Members of Unite, Unison and the GMB are taking part 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.
Caledonian MacBrayne regional manager Brian Fulton confi
rmed on Monday afternoon that the industrial action would bring a halt to the company's Rothesay-Wemyss Bay and Dunoon-Gourock ferry services.
Though the ferry crews themselves are 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 does 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, is not disrupted by the planned strike, while Western Ferries' frequent service between Hunter's Quay, near Dunoon, and McInroy's Point in Gourock will also continue to operate.
The council's local area office at Eaglesham House and the social work office in Union Street are expected to remain 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.
The island's schools should be largely unaffected; only the council's own minibuses, which transport children to and from outlying areas, will 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."
If the day of industrial action does go ahead, it will be the second time this year that striking workers at Rothesay pier have suspended the Wemyss Bay ferry.
Pier hands joined fellow union members in a four-day stoppage in February in protest at Argyll and Bute Council's proposed settlement of the Single Status agreement on pay and conditions.
