Yesterday, 15 August 2024, officers from the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) made history by carrying out their first-ever strike action.
This unprecedented move highlights a deepening rift over pay and working conditions, as RFA officers express their dissatisfaction with what they describe as a decade-long decline in real-term earnings.
The strike, organised by Nautilus International, affected vessels operating in the Far East, the Mediterranean, and those in UK waters.
According to Nautilus, the strike was a response to the UK government’s failure to address the significant pay concerns of RFA officers, who have faced what the union describes as a “30% real-term pay cut” since 2010.
Nautilus members had been engaging in “action short of strike” since 1 June 2024, but with no satisfactory resolution in sight, yesterday’s strike marked a significant escalation. The dispute centres around a 4.5% pay offer for 2023/24, which Nautilus argues is inadequate given the current rate of inflation.
Martyn Gray, Nautilus International’s Director of Organising, expressed the frustration of the officers: “Our members are fed up. For too long, the RFA, the Royal Navy, and the Ministry of Defence have relied on the goodwill of our members to carry out essential operations. The pay offer for 2023/24 and the real-term pay cut of over 30% since 2010 has made this goodwill no longer tenable.”
Gray stated that resolving the dispute would require a pay offer that reflects the reality of inflation and begins to address the erosion of pay over the past decade. “This strike will make history, but not in a good way for an already crippled RFA,” he added.
During the strike, officers maintained a presence at several key locations, including the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead, Whale Island in Portsmouth, and Portland in Dorset.
Nautilus has reiterated its willingness to find a resolution swiftly but stressed that its members will no longer tolerate being undervalued and overworked. The strike is a significant development in the ongoing dispute and underscores the critical issues facing the RFA and its personnel.
That sad thing is that unlike a bin strike or a rail strike no one in the UK public will notice this or is affected by it so little reason for the government to end it.
And the very best of luck to them!
They deserve to be heard, and deserve to be fairly treated. It is unequivocally in the the MOD’s best interest to sort this situation out as rapidly as possible.
The RFA are vital to just about everything the RN does around the world, this is not the time to be ostracising an extremely important & world class asset, that contributes considerably to the RN being one of the few, true blue water navies that can project power across the world’s oceans.
True.
Drop in the ocean stuff too.
Just need Sir Humphrey to spin a separation of grading structures from MOD civil servants.
Thing is they are up against a commercial rock (competition) and a hard place (civil service structures).
Call Bernard Wolley and Sir Arnold in too!!
The R.F.A At 1 time were given M.N. Rates of annual pay rises. After the Falkland War, the r.n. took over. Annual pay rises then became a joke ! If the M.N. Was a higher rate than the r.n. Then the pay rise was the r.n.rate. Next year,if the r.n. rate was higher than the M.N. rate. You were paid the M.N. rate. Also,it took longer to get the pay rise each year,and if my memory serves me well. It wasn’t back dated !! After the navy took control it,it went to Hell in the R.F.A.
I agree. One of the most treacherous places to be. The waist of a ship during a RAS. Let’s see the been counters and politicians stand there during an emergency breakaway. That’s not going to happen, none of them stuff that requires. Courage.
It’ll be interesting to see whether Labour are handing out large pay rises to the deserving or just those represented by unions which contribute funds to the party and can deselect MPs.
I take it you mean ASLEF, talk about a massive own goal 🤔 No changes to working practices and a decent settlement to some of the highest paid Gold Plated workers in the U.K.
And for probably a miserable £5m this strike is avoided. It is barely even a rounding up error in the MOD accounts.
Talk about an avoidable strike
Come on UK Gov pay up these essential enablers or the RN Fleet will be going no where real soon. And the monies? a drop in the ocean in the budget. That and getting those assets back to sea too as sitting along side is not good for the hard wear either.
Absolute madness. Pay them a decent wage, comparable with those in the RN.
They probably spend more time at sea, and are always there to support the “White Ensign”
Like most UK Civil Servants for years they have had below inflation pay settlements and now they have had enough…. I am not surprised.