ANOTHER qualified shipyard worker has waded into the growing furore over personnel practices at Ferguson Marine in Port Glasgow.

Tony Gartley, 57, who is a qualified pipe-fitter with extensive managerial experience in both construction and project management, applied to the yard at the beginning of December but says his paperwork was snubbed.

He said he was then angered to see the Scottish Government-owned shipyard take on 13 eastern European workers through a sub-contractor, only for them to breach social distancing rules on arrival and force a self-isolation period, quickly followed by a complete production shutdown at the yard for a week.

Mr Gartley, of Gourock, said: "I went on their website and I sent a message through their contact us page when I heard that they were looking for personnel.

"I also had a conversation with a painter who'd informed me that they were looking for different tradesmen, so I sent my CV with a cover letter."

Mr Gartley says he is still awaiting a response.

He has now written to Inverclyde MSP Stuart McMillan demanding to know why contractor firms are drafting in foreign labour, particularly during the grip of a pandemic.

He added: "Why is the Scottish Government allowing contractor companies to bring in personnel from out with the Inverclyde area?

"This area has thousands of individuals on universal credit with, at a conservative estimate, hundreds of tradesmen who are more than capable of doing the tasks required in Ferguson's shipyard.

"If we were employed by a contractor in Romania and went to start working there while locals were looking for work, I just don't think that would be permitted.

"I personally think these workers would be getting the minimum wage and the contractor is looking at the highest possible profit gains with Ferguson's and the Scottish Government in the loop.

"The people of Inverclyde are again getting ignored."

Another time-served yardsman Brian Hamil spoke to the Tele on Saturday about his experience, having been laid off - along with other men - as a pipe-fitter and told there was no work ready, only to see the 13 European pipe-fitters drafted in shortly afterwards.

Ferguson Marine said they would investigate the issues that have been raised.

A spokesperson said: "We do not comment on individual HR and personnel matters for reasons of confidentiality.

"However, we will investigate the details provided regarding the two individuals and explore any issues and areas for improvement."

Ferguson's say they recruit tradespeople via a 'framework of recruitment agencies on a contract basis to manage workforce numbers and costs in an efficient way in line with peaks and troughs in production'.

They added that a recruitment agency had supplied 30 contract tradespeople last autumn for vacancies which were advertised and open for several months.

Their spokesperson added: "As pipe-fitting is a critical part of the dual fuel ferry project and to avoid any further delays to the project, we increased the scope of work of [sub-contractor] HB Hydraulics to supply this resource.

"Our recruitment agency is set to launch an advertising campaign to recruit further tradespeople once Covid-19 restrictions are lifted."

A Scottish Government spokesperson said:“Recruitment is an operational matter for the yard’s management team."