Royal Navy: RMT union in MoD and government talks pushing for Royal Fleet Auxiliary and rail workers pay rise

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) will meet with officials throughout the week to discuss pay terms for its members. This covers RFA sailors - with member of the Nautilus International Union going on strike last week - and rail workers at train-operating companies.

A meeting will be held between the RMT and the Department for Transport today (August 20), with talks also scheduled with Network Rail on Thursday (August 22) and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Friday (August 23).

General secretary Mick Lynch said that all offers would be dealt with by the union after talks are completed. “We really need to move on from the belligerent and hostile attitude of the last government and reset industrial relations to allow rail workers and RFA seafarers to get on with the job,” he said.

The meetings follow a suggested deal aimed at ending the long-running train drivers’ pay dispute. Members of the Aslef union are being recommended to vote in favour of a three-year increase worth 14.5 per cent.

RFA personnel, many of them of officer rank, walked out in dispute over a 4.5 per cent pay rise was handed to them with no negotiation. Members of the Nautilus International union holding a demonstration near Whale Island last Thursday (August 15) said they felt “overworked, underpaid and undervalued”, with personnel often working on understaffed ships.

Union representative Helen Kelly said the pay deal offered to them left people feeling frustrated and angry as they have seen their pay drop by 30 per cent in real terms in 2010. She added that the Royal Navy, who are logistically supported by RFA personnel on forward deployments in conflict zones and other areas, will find it difficult to maintain its effectiveness if industrial action continued. Former RFA Captain Simon Booth, who served in the force for 37 years, previously said it is struggling to retain staff and officers are leaving because of burnout.

In response, an MoD spokesperson previously said: “The Royal Fleet Auxiliary are highly valued, and we are committed to listening to their concerns and keeping a continued dialogue with them to address the issues they have raised.”