Today, officers and crew members of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) took strike action for the second consecutive day, coinciding with Merchant Navy Day.
This unprecedented move marks the first time officers have voted to strike since the RFA’s formation in 1905, highlighting ongoing frustrations within the service regarding pay and working conditions.
The strike was called by Nautilus International, which represents RFA officers, as well as the RMT, the union for the crew. The decision to strike follows the overwhelming rejection of a 4.5% pay offer imposed in November 2023.
Officers have experienced a real-term pay cut exceeding 30% since 2010, leading to significant discontent within the ranks.
In an email regarding the situation, a representative stated, “We do not see this as a strike for a pay rise but rather a fight for the very survival of the RFA.” The representative also pointed out the ongoing crewing crisis, with many skilled positions being understaffed by 30-50%.
The current voluntary outflow rate surpasses recruitment efforts, raising concerns about the RFA’s viability and its role in supporting the UK’s defence capabilities.
During the strike, Nautilus maintained a presence at key locations, including Portsmouth and Birkenhead’s Cammell Laird shipyard, to show solidarity with its members. Nautilus director of organising Martyn Gray said, “Merchant Navy Day is a day to recognise the importance of our nation’s merchant seafarers… It is therefore deeply disappointing that our members have no other choice but to take a further day of strike action as they reiterate their message that they are overworked, underpaid and undervalued.”
Despite the impact of the strike on RFA and Royal Navy operations, the Ministry of Defence has yet to present a new offer, although discussions are ongoing. Gray pointed out the need for a resolution, stating, “We need a pathway to the future that deals with the longstanding challenges of recruitment, retention and overutilisation.” He also mentioned that “We cannot rule out further action going forward.”
So sad that it has come to this. The RN is extremely limited without the RFA and this needs to be resolved with immediate hast. A force without the means of replenishment is quickly compromised.
I smell a government sell out to Serco in the air.
The argument will be the RAF has privately operated tankers why can’t the RN have the same?
I hadn’t considered that possibly….
A private company…. Hmm, not impossible Stephanie.
Considering the small numbers involved, a substantial pay rise would represent minimal cost and it’s an obvious solution to the RFA issues.
The fact that the last, and this government haven’t bothered, does suggest something is being planned
The RAF Tankers are not privately operated though, but owned. They are maintained by contractors ( and I think RAF on flight line for daily stuff? ) but flown by RAF crews.
The RFA ships also have RN personnel, weapons, and are taking on other roles like the MCM mother vessel and MROSS functions.
I certainly hope not!!
Thank you. I am laying out possible scenarios and so cannot go into detail. There are many possible ways a privatisation of the RFA could happen.
There could be different crews for differing threat levels. So in the Gulf a tanker may have an RFA crew whilst in the Atlantic it would have a crew say from Serco (with an RFA master of course. Ships could be equipped differently for different tasking so again cannons in the Gulf non in the Atlantic.
Consider the Points aren’t RFA manned. If you look through the modern era the government has ‘operated’ ships in support of defence tasking in several ways. It hasn’t always been the RFA.
RFA ships don’t just carry RN personnel they also carry personnel from other MoD agencies. The RFA’s problem is that it is neither fish nor fowl. It employees personnel at one end who are no different to those who work say in a warehouse. Whereas at the other end RFA deck officers can take PWO courses. Too broad of a church. Sometimes it is nearly the navy. Sometimes it is P&O Ferries. And most of the time it is something in between. Perhaps logistics ships operating at the sharp end should be RN manned? These could peel back and replenish from simpler ‘privatised’ ships in deep support.
As for your comments re MCM support well we have civilians operating in direct support of CASD. If that can happen surely civilians supporting MCM isn’t too much of a stretch? Surely that is what the RFA do now? Isn’t the whole defence sector awash with ‘civilian operators’? US operations in the Sandbox depended on such to get most of the work done.
Perhaps you need to look at the very complex world of ship chartering too?
There are lots of options. Personally I would rather see the RFA properly paid, trained and up to establishment. For me I think the RFA needs to be more ‘navy’ than it has become over recent decades. I have never been happy with Voyager program which is expensive and offers poor value as do most PFI projects. But if push comes to shove especially with a Labour government it will be what they will point to as to what can be done. Do you remember when the Voyager Consortium was shocked to learn their planes may have to go into a war zone?
This also points to other deeper problems within the Naval Service. There is little joined up thinking. Let’s pick an example. If T45 had been a 10k tonne ship it would have less impact on the RFA in terms of needs for dry stores and bunkers. The RN is constantly looking to reduce harbour movements but it doesn’t fit ships with bow and stern thrusters. Compare Queen Mary 2 coming alongside in Southampton to one of the carriers berthing in HMNB Pompey. There has been no talk of fitting the new stores ships with SeaCeptor. There are not enough escorts. There are note auxillaries. There are no rear areas now. And non-state actors are using missiles in for A2/AD. Paying out for something has impact elsewhere along the line to ease workload and extend capabilities. If the RN can’t think for itself no wonder the RFA is left floundering in its wake.
All your comment said to me is that you hadn’t thought the problem through or don’t have the knowledge or experience to get a broader view.
Thank you, lots to consider there.
Mixing crews depending on deployment area and threat? So would the RFA vessels be COCO or GOCO?
With the civilians in support of CASD, say, through the SSE, they are not in a combat zone, but the MCM vessels may well be, so how would that work using contractors?
The Points I believe use reservists clawed as sponsored reserves?
Yes, I remember the Voyagers not fitted with DAS.
No experience at all, no, so no broader views from me.
Take the Gulf. There are lot of civilian contractors doing work out there. And one of the reasons why the Naval Service is there is MCM. But in a shooting war you would deploy RN personnel. If drones are remotely controlled from home then surely those personnel could be civilian too.
FWIW I think too many on sites like this don’t consider MCM in war along a coastline in the hands of the enemy.
COCO or GOCO? Depends on the circumstances. Isn’t that what I have be saying?
As I said I think we need to keep the RFA as we all know it. If it were me I there would be still a RMAS.
As I read here once government is not business. And defence is government business.
Been tried before with measrsk. No goer!!
Because it is not commercially viable and doesn’t give operational flexibility that the RFA gives if properly resourced. This whole issue has been in the making the last 20 years due to of short sightedness by all Governments and the Civil service and MOD ignoring the demographics.
I thought the problem at the moment was the RFA has no operational flexibility because it isn’t properly funded?
If the RFA had enough hulls, personnel and operational budget personnel wouldn’t be going on strike and we wouldn’t be discussing it here?
Should be driving trains guys, not staying away for months, putting yourself in harms way and ignored. I wish you luck.
The rfa is struggling to recruit and keep staff, the failure rate on recruits is massive due to basic errors that should never have seen the candidates selected in the first place.
It’s classed as a failing institution yet they want to double it to nearly 5000 so they can have a red crew blue crew set up.
It needs proper back office staff and better recruits. Good pay is only part of the problem.all the old hands have served their time and are leaving in numbers
You’re right on the button there too many pen pushers sitting on their arse and not bothered about sea personnel that’s one of the reasons why experience seaman like myself have left & screw-in around with your pension don’t forget get that all I can say is good luck to you all with this Government 😤💩
Well Labour has already failed its first big test on defence.
Pay rises to all and sundry for their Union paymasters.
Pay rises for military personnel ( out of the existing budget though )
And with the RFA in pieces, ships tied up for lack of crew, and a pillar of the UKs naval service, given nothing.
At the end of the day, there was going to have to be some sort of deal with junior doctors as it was going to just drag on and on and part of that black hole was there as the perilous government had offered 12%( I think). Apart from the rail unions, I am not really sure who the union paymasters are. In the case of the RFA I would guess they have had the same as all other MOD civil servants. The only other way round might to pay some sort of retention bonus or simlear
In the meantime a government official has admitted that there are 5000 empty hotel beds costing x amount of millions on standby in case of an emergency. WTF. Well here’s an emergency if any government officials read this site.
I don’t understand that. Why not use them for electives, on the grounds that if there’s an emergency, electives can always be cancelled?
I doubt there’s a subject that we talk about here that has a greater unanimity among commenters than support for the RFA.
This needs to be squared away asap however, I doubt it will happen. Subcontract in the offing mebbe. Moronic mp’s getting tapped up and brainwashed by voracious so called ‘experts and special advisers’, who serve no other purpose other than to rob the British taxpayer.
Pay the Merchant Navy whatever is needed to keep them on board. (no pun intended)
Then get someone to take a serious look into Military pay, costs of living, conditions etc, to go a little way to stop the rot, within our Armed Forces.
Unless these steps are taken, the issues the Merchant Navy, as well as the Armed Forces as a whole have, will continue to spiral out of control.
Why have a different study into military pay? When serving, I always had faith in the Armed Forces Pay Review Body (AFPRB) an independent body who reviewed pay annually – but somewhat less faith in the Government on the occasions they staged the pay award.
It’s decades since I served, so AFPRB (if they still exist) makes no never mind. Why have a different study on pay… it’s one of 20 odd reasons, that people give today for not wanting to join the armed forces.
It is also one of the ‘issues’ raised by the ‘masses’, who are looking to leave the armed forces.
Personally, I’ve always felt that the continued existence of the RFA has been a sop to the unions and the Treasury
They are not civilian ships, they need to be in the Navy proper and crews trained to operate the vessels without being mob handed… It doesn’t take 30 people to bring the Queen Mary alongside, so quite why it does a T23 I will never know
Ther RFA are truly professional sailors who provide a real force multiplier that can’t come from any where else. Give them back their true status (you just can’t compare them to land locked Civies) and the pay on par with those in the RN. They man those ships including the weapons when required and are the largest force of its kind in NATO after the USN who are also having major personnel issues, NATO is so much weather at sea because they are not there. It would be a drop in the ocean to give them pay they deserve. They get my support 100% as a fellow seafarer.
I thought it was the RN contingent on RFA vessels that manned the defensive weapons.
They are weaponed trained and have been for many years. Few RFA’s have RN members onboard.
Short answer is… it varies. If Phalanx is fitted, it’s run by a RN detachment. 20/30mm cannons are always manned by RFA. Smaller calibre weapons (GPMG etc.) are usually manned by RFA but in higher threat areas they may embark a RN/RM Force Protection team that take these over.
This should be a government priory to sort this mess out ,Defence of the Realm who they kidding 🙄
Lead by a ‘person’ who doesn’t know the difference between a Man and a Woman!!!!!!!
No body wants to go to sea today for 3months or more we have a snowflake generation today so bring the tour of duty down to 4 weeks or 6 weeks on and off like the rest off the industry then maybe your recruited more
Only phalanx is shot by RN all others are dine by RFA
We are in a state and no one seems to care. Action. Needed soon before it’s too late!!