MoD: Royal Fleet Auxiliary staff "harassed" into returning from leave early due to lack of sailors on ships

Sailors, engineers and officers are being pushed to their limits to maintain capabilities and support the Royal Navy. RFA personnel - who are part of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers and Nautilus International unions - have been staging strikes in recent weeks amid a bitter row with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) over pay and conditions.

Disgruntled and “fed up” seafarers formed a demonstration near Whale Island, Portsmouth, on Merchant Navy Day (September 3). Martyn Gray, director of organising at Nautilus International, told The News that people on leave are being “harassed” to come back to work early and fill gaps to help colleagues. “It reaches a point where they no longer can do it,” he added. “People are driving themselves into illness because of the way they are working within the RFA.”

One union member at the demonstration said the force has “relied on the goodwill of its staff” for far too long. Workers often get sent emails while on break seeing their friends and family saying how much it would help if they returned early for a deployment, they added. “Some believe their career prospects would be better off if they did but it never helps,” they said.

Another union member said there are not enough people to man RFA ships, with even the most modern vessels not being available for deployment and staying in docks. By law, there needs to be a minimum number of sailors operating a vessel - a minimum safe manning figure. The RFA support the Royal Navy on frontline and other tasks. They carry out tasks including refuelling, restocking and other assignments - often supporting ships in conflict zones and with replenishment at sea exercises for UK Carrier Strike Groups.

The union member said staffing levels are continually being pushed to brink, with more and more people leaving the force for other opportunities. A pay offer of 4.5 per cent was implemented earlier this year, but the union members have been striking as they say that have seen a 30 per cent drop in their pay in real terms over the last decade.

Mr Gray said: “Goodwill is in short supply and is running dry. When you ask people to put themselves at risk in the firing line in support of Royal Navy and Marine activity on worse terms and conditions than they could get for operating a cross channel ferry or working in the North Sea on supply areas, you are going to see people leave where the grass is definitively greener. They are going to people who pay what they are worth.”

The MoD has carried out talks with the RMT and Nautilus International unions. These have been deemed as positive but a pay offer has yet to materialise. Mr Gray previously said the MoD is in the hands of the treasury as to whether this can be resolved. He added that pay is the tip of the iceberg for what needs to be sorted out to return the RFA to its former glory and support its personnel.

The 33-year-old added: “They are constantly doing sea appointments and being away from their friends and family for extended long periods of time, with the stress and strain that goes along with that. That leave is space for them to get decompression time, so when they go back to work they can focus on it because they’ve had time away from the job.

“Constantly asking people to come back without having their full leave is increasing the stress and burnout. There’s a myriad of issues which need to be resolved, but the first is getting the pay to the level where it needs to be. Everything else can fall in behind that. Paying these people what they’re worth is the first crucial step into fixing the problems with the RFA.”

The MoD said they are working to minimise the impact of the strikes on the RFA and the Royal Navy, adding that they recognise the importance of working conditions and are working to maintain the RFA as an attractive and effective employer. A spokesperson previously 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.” The MoD added that they are consulting members on a series of new recruitment and retention initiatives and a suite of options to increase the flexibility of work.