The Nautilus and RMT unions are optimistic that a government review of Scottish lifeline ferry services tendering will improve the lot of British seafarers.
They welcomed a move by Scottish transport minister Humza Yousaf to examine the legal, policy and financial implications affecting the procurement of key routes.
Nautilus said that following feedback from the European Commission, the review would assess whether Scottish ferries could be covered by the ‘Teckal exemption’ which enables some services to be operated by an in-house provider without the need for competitive tendering.
A tender for the Gourock-Dunoon services has been put on hold while the study takes place.
Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson commented: "We have always maintained that the tender process was unnecessary, costly and unsettling for our members and the communities they serve.
"However, it is just a review and we have been here before only to be told that the best way to comply with EU state aid guidelines is, after all, to offer a public tender.
"Consequently, our efforts have in recent times been focused on making sure that the tender specification makes it clear that the job security, employment conditions and pensions of our members must not be jeopardised."
RMT general secretary Mick Cash added: "The news that the European Commission has accepted that Scotland’s publicly contracted ferry services can be exempted from destabilising competition law bodes extremely well for the future stability of these lifeline public services.
"We look forward to working with the Scottish government and others on how such an exemption will work in practice.”
