MoD: RFA sailors "harassed" into returning from leave early as minister addresses issue on Portsmouth visit

A representative from the Nautilus International union stated that Royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel were being asked to cut their time off short to plug gaps in deployments. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed a new pay deal with union members last week, with officers and lower rates securing an above-inflation wage bump.

Stagnant salaries was not the only issue discussed by sailors during demonstrations in Portsmouth last year. Martyn Gray, director of organising at Nautilus International, previously told The News that staff shortages for deployments, often scheduled to support the Royal Navy on various missions, were commonplace and sailors were being “harassed” to go back to sea as a result.

“It reaches a point where they no longer can do it,” he said. “People are driving themselves into illness because of the way they are working within the RFA (Royal Fleet Auxiliary).”

He 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.”

Armed forces minister Luke Pollard said during a tour of RFA Proteus in Portsmouth that the reforms for the RFA would go well beyond just raising their wages. Issues regarding recruitment and retention, annual leave and other topics are set to be addressed. He told The News: “For the last decade, morale has been falling across our armed forces. That’s not sustainable and that’s not acceptable.

“When we speak as a new government that we want to renew the contract between the nation and those who serve, the easiest way of assessing if that’s working or not has been morale. That’s only one criteria, how people feel about their service, whether they want to join and stay, and importantly, whether people want to re-join. The RFA is one of those careers where we have seen people service for long periods of time, leave and then re-join. That’s something we want to make easier for all our armed forces.

“I don’t think the RFA has had the attention it has deserved in the past. We have some brilliant people working there. I want to address the impression that they’re not valued enough. The RFA is absolutely critical for the nation’s defence. With the resolution of the pay dispute, I hope we can look to further improve terms and conditions, and the ability of the RFA to support the UK’s national security.”