Strike action by workers who maintain weapons systems for the Royal Navy’s nuclear-armed submarine fleet at Coulport has been suspended after the ABL Alliance companies tabled an enhanced pay offer, according to Unite.
Around 70 Unite members at the Royal Naval Armaments Depot, employed by AWE plc, Babcock Marine and Lockheed Martin, had been due to walk out on 16, 17 and 19 November, and an overtime ban has been in place since Monday 9 November.
The three companies form the ABL Alliance and provide care and maintenance services for the weapons systems carried by the submarines, the union said, with Babcock Marine trading as Devonport Royal Dockyard Limited.
Members will now vote on the new offer, and Unite regional coordinator James O’Connell confirmed the walkouts are off while that vote takes place. “The ABL Alliance has tabled a new offer which we will take to our members. Until that process is complete strikes involving our members at the Coulport naval base have been suspended,” he said.
In March 2021, hundreds of civilian Babcock staff at Faslane and Coulport began a rolling strike over pay and bargaining rights after rejecting a 1.1 per cent offer, and a later contractor dispute at Coulport ended with a pay deal in January 2022.
