Royal Fleet Auxiliary officers strike continues in pay row

The action by members of the Nautilus union will end on the first day of the Labour party conference in Liverpool on Sunday.

Union members have a picket line outside Cammell Laird in Birkenhead with members also holding demonstrations across both the country and in locations worldwide. 

It is the third walkout since mid August, when officers staged their first strike in the 120-year history of the service.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union at the RFA will strike for three days from next Monday in the same dispute.

Royal Fleet Auxiliary Officers on Wirral are into the second day of strike action in a long-running dispute over pay (Image: Craig Manning / Newsquest) Nautilus said officers had suffered a real terms pay cut of more than 30% since 2010 and had a 4.5% pay offer imposed on them in November 2023.

Jenny McKechnie, strategic organiser for Nautilus International, the union supporting the officers employed by the RFA, told the Globe: "This is the third set of industrial action we have done over the course of two months.

"Our members employed by the RFA are civil service, but they've got a huge, important job to do with regards to defence and humanitarian aid and the things that they do.

"They've just found that, over the last 10 to 15 years, their pay has just eroded and not kept up with inflation.

"We're looking at a real-terms pay cut of around 30 per cent over the course of the last 10 years.

Royal Fleet Auxiliary Officers on Wirral are into the second day of strike action in a long-running dispute over pay (Image: Craig Manning / Newsquest) "They're also finding that the pay increase they were given last year was less than the Royal Navy got, so they've actually been given a lesser increase.

"We've got to an impasse really. When we started talks, it was a Conservative government, but has now changed and we've been left with no option, because talks haven't been progressing, to take industrial action."

Asked if she felt their appeal will be listened to by the Government, Ms McKechnie replied: "We always hope that we'll be listened to. Nobody wants to take industrial action and it's quite rare that we do, but our members feel so put out that they feel it's the only option. 

"We hope to make a difference and just want someone to get round the table and talk to us and try to bring this dispute to an end."

Earlier this week, a Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “The Royal Fleet Auxiliary are highly valued, specialist personnel. We are committed to listening to their concerns and keeping a continued dialogue to address the issues they have raised.”