MoD: Royal Fleet Auxiliary strikes addressed after vessel stopped from joining HMS Prince of Wales exercises

Officers have been staging industrial action and working-to-rule amid an ongoing dispute with the Ministry of Defence (MoD). A 4.5 per cent pay rise was imposed by the government, which angered members of the Nautilus International and RMT unions - who state they have seen wages fall by over 30 per cent in real terms in 2010.

The Daily Telegraph reports that this has impacted preparations for Exercise Strike Warrior, where HMS Prince of Wales is leading the UK Carrier Strike Group on various drills ahead of a deployment to Japan and the Indo-Pacific region in 2025. The national publication said RFA Fort Victoria, a solid stores support ship that provides aircraft carriers with ammunition, equipment and fuel, will not join the Carrier Strike Group due to a lack of sailors. They said she will remain in in Seaforth Docks near Liverpool until further notice, with uncertainty whether she will join HMS Prince of Wales on deployment in 2025.

HNoMS Maud, Norway’s supply ship, had to step in and carry out a replenishment at sea task with the aircraft carrier in the North Sea last week. The Telegraph said defence sources suggest while they UK is receiving supply help from Norway, other nations may have to offer aid until Britain’s new solid support ships come into use - not expected until the early 2030s.

In response, a Royal Navy spokesperson told the publication: “The Royal Fleet Auxiliary are highly valued and continue to provide crucial support to the delivery of operations in conjunction with the Royal Navy and our allies around the world. RFA Fort Victoria’s current status does not affect the fleet’s operational integrity.”

Staffing levels in the RFA have been a major concern for personnel, with the issue raised during demonstrations in Portsmouth. “They’re so fed up with the way they are being treated by the RFA,” assistant national secretary of the RMT union Mark Carden told The News in September. “It’s come to a tipping point where something has to give. They know their living standards are going down.

“They know the skills they have are valued in the maritime industry, which is causing a recruitment and retention crisis within the RFA and the Royal Navy. The MoD needs to wake up, smell the coffee, and realise they have a recruitment and retention problem and are losing skilled personnel because of it. The Royal Navy can’t function without the auxiliary, and it’ll affect the security of the nation and how they can function around the globe. This is affecting everything globally.”

The RFA dispute was addressed in the House of Commons today (October 14) while politicians held questions regarding the ongoing Strategic Defence Review. Gagan Mohindra, Conservative MP for South West Hertfordshire, said the RFA industrial dispute is putting our national security at risk. He added: “Does the minister think it’s a betrayal of our defence that Labour puts general settlements to their paymasters before those seafarers who keep us safe?”

Luke Pollard, Labour MP and parliamentary under-secretary of state for defence, responded: “I think the honourable gentleman can do better than that. It’s really important that we support those in all our forces and those in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary as well. Discussions are ongoing to try and resolve the industrial action that started under the last government. We are having those continued discussions now. I want to thank all those people who serve in the Royal Navy, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and in civilian roles, because it’s the whole team that matters to this government.”