ROTHESAY'S ferry link with Wemyss Bay returned to normal service on Thursday morning after a strike by local pier hands saw the route suspended throughout Wednesday.
Argyll and Bute Council employees at Rothesay pier joined members of Unite, Unison and the GMB in a 24-hour stoppage across Scotland in protest against an offer of a 2.5 per cent pay increase made by their local authority employers.
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Brayne's Dunoon-Gourock service was also suspended throughout Wednesday as a result of the industrial action.
Though the ferry crews themselves were not on strike, the vessels' ropes are tied up and untied in both Rothesay and Dunoon by employees of the pier's owner, Argyll and Bute Council - and the authority did not have enough qualified staff to do the work of the striking pier hands.
Bute's other ferry link with the mainland, between Rhubodach and Colintraive, was not disrupted by the planned strike, while Western Ferries' frequent service between Hunter's Quay, near Dunoon, and McInroy's Point in Gourock also continued to operate.
The council's local area office at Eaglesham House and the social work office in Union Street both remained open on Wednesday, though the environmental services office at 110 High Street will be closed and the island's roads workers and binmen are on strike.
Rothesay's library was open as normal, while the town's swimming pool and leisure centre closed early at 5pm after some, but not all, centre staff decided to participate in the day of action.
The island's schools were largely unaffected; only the council's own minibuses, which transport children to and from outlying areas, did not operate, with parents advised in advance to make alternative arrangements to get their children to and from school.
Stephanie Herd, chair of Unison's Scottish local government service group, said: "We apologise for any disruption to those services, and we hope the public knows that our members need to be treated fairly.
"However, they are angry that the employers want to lock them into 2.5 per cent increases for the next three years, while inflation is way ahead of that already and set to continue rising."
She continued: "The 2.5 per cent pay offer is already a pay cut. Food is up six per cent, transport seven per cent, mortgages eight per cent, electricity and only recently gas up by an additional 35 per cent."
Wednesday's strike was the second time this year that striking workers at Rothesay pier have suspended the Wemyss Bay ferry.
Pier hands joined many other Argyll and Bute Council workers in a four-day stoppage in February in protest at the local authority's proposed settlement of the Single Status agreement on pay and conditions.
