Ferguson Shipyard to Cut a Quarter of Workforce
Ferguson Marine, the state-owned shipyard in Port Glasgow, opened a voluntary redundancy scheme for up to 70 of its 283 staff, around a quarter of the workforce, as work on the ferry Glen Rosa winds down. It leaves the yard with no ship under construction for the first time in over a decade. The union GMB Scotland called it a “betrayal of a blameless workforce” and blamed ministers for failing to deliver promised contracts.
The cuts turn a long-running saga of delay and overspend into immediate job losses, and they land squarely on the Scottish government, which owns the yard and pledged four new vessels in March that have yet to materialise. For the workers, including 34 apprentices, the timing is bleak: the yard finishes Glen Rosa with nothing firm to follow, so skills built up over years risk walking out of the gate. Ministers say contract negotiations are under way, but the union’s charge of betrayal will sting a government already bruised over ferries. Watch whether the promised orders are signed in time to keep the yard, and its apprentices, intact.