CalMac fat cats on £191,000 deny staff pay rise

TSSA today lambasted CalMac "fat cats as the company's financial statement reveals the highest paid Director received £191,00 - a whopping 18% pay rise - whilst refusing more than a miserly 0.5% pay rise for their staff.

The revelation comes amid a dispute over pay, with the company refusing to budge from the 0.5% rise for its staff, leading TSSA’s leader Manuel Cortes to say, “Fat cats in CalMac are lining their own pockets whilst showing contempt for hard working staff”.

On page 22 of CalMac’s financial results, it says: “The aggregate of remuneration of the highest paid Director was £191,000 (2019: £165,000).” That is a staggering 18% pay increase on the previous year, at a time when workers in the public and private sectors are feeling the pinch because of the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic. Yet bosses in CalMac are offering just a 0.5% increase for hundreds of staff.

The financial statement doesn’t name the Director, but it’s thought likely to be Managing Director, Robbie Drummond, who earlier this year sent a glossy postcard to all staff thanking them for their “support, understanding and commitment” during the pandemic. By contrast, a basic CalMac contact centre salary stands at around £21,000, meaning this director is paid more than nine times those staff. The company made profits of £7.1 million last year.

Manuel Cortes, TSSA General Secretary, said: “The contents of CalMac’s financial statement has laid bare the fat cattery at the top of the company and their contempt for their staff.

“This company thinks nothing of increasing its Director’s pay by a staggering 18% in just one year, yet is digging in for a fight with its hardworking staff over a measly 0.5% pay offer.

“CalMac bosses have thanked staff for their dedication this year, but the best way to show this would be through an improved pay offer. Words on a glossy postcard mean nothing when they are prepared to preside over runaway executive pay and press down on workers’ wages.

“My message to CalMac fat cat bosses is this: if you value your staff, put your hands in your deep pockets and show it. And if they aren't prepared to do so, Transport Secretary, Matheson must intervene to tell the Scrooge bosses of this publicly owned company, to cough up".

Ends

• A 0.5% pay rise across all staff in the company amounts to £450,000. CalMac made £7.1million last year.