Transport union RMT will today press ahead with a strike action ballot over “defects” in the rolling stock used for the iconic Caledonian Sleeper franchise.
RMT accused operator Serco of failing to address the faults after recent talks and said it had been left with no choice other than to ballot rail workers.
It labelled Serco a “specialist in failure” in public sector work and warned the Scottish Government not to hand it the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services contract, which is currently out to tender.
The union is today sending out ballot papers with a recommendation to vote in favour of a full-blown strike and alternative industrial action. The ballot will close on December 15.
Caledonian Sleeper managing director Peter Strachan said Serco had worked hard to improve the service over the past eight months, adding he was disappointed with RMT’s stance.
A spokesman for Transport Scotland said RMT’s decision was regrettable as it could lead to the service being disrupted, which would impact on passengers’ travel plans.
The spokesman said the Scottish and UK governments were to invest £100million in the sleeper service over the next 15 years in order to make sure passengers’ expectations are met.
Serco was awarded the contract by the Scottish Government in 2014, with the company taking over from Aberdeen-based transport giant FirstGroup in March 2015.
But since then Serco has come in for criticism from RMT, which has described the rolling stock as a danger to passengers and employees alike.
RMT has accused Serco of failing to fix more than 200 faults on the trains, which run between the north of Scotland and London, despite pledges to do so.
The health and safety issues mostly relate to the state of the toilets, disconnected smoke detectors, and malfunctioning lighting and heating systems, the union said.
It also said a shortage of working boilers meant staff had to carry scalding hot water between coaches while trains were moving.
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “Serco is a company who are specialists in failure when it comes to public sector contracts and RMT has no intention of allowing them to get away with compromising the safety of staff and passengers on the sleeper service.”
On the west coast ferry contract, RMT urged Holyrood to leave the service in the hands of Caledonian MacBrayne, which is run by Scottish Government-owned firm David MacBrayne.
Mr Cash said: “The Scottish Government must pay heed to the warnings from RMT and opposition politicians about the broken promises from Serco on their deliverance of public services and ensure the announcement regarding the award of the Clyde and Hebridean ferry service is made in advance of the Scottish parliamentary elections next May.”
Transport Scotland’s spokesman said the tendering process for the ferry contract was “fair and transparent” – and ministers would retain control of “all important issues”, regardless of who wins the franchise.