Fair Pay for Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) campaign

Circular No: NP/120/19

TO ALL BRANCHES AND REGIONAL COUNCILS.

Our ref: S1/1/8

4th July 2019

Dear Colleagues

Fair Pay for Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) campaign

Further to circular no. NP/085 of 15th May 2019, I am writing to applaud RFA members on the result of their ballot for industrial action and the actions they are now taking against the employer in order to break over a decade of attacks on their pay and conditions.

As part of this, RMT have organised Parliamentary actions in support of RFA members and the Fair Pay for RFA campaign. The ongoing support of all Branches and members is requested for this vital maritime pay campaign.

A short demonstration will be held with RFA members outside Parliament on

Wednesday 17th July, 12.30pm opposite Old Palace Yard SW1A 2BE

All members and activists are asked to attend. RFA members in particular are requested to attend the demonstration and to lobby their MP on the day.

The RMT Parliamentary Group has also organised for the Union to hold a drop-in briefing for MPs on 17th July from 2.30-4pm in Portcullis House. All RMT members are asked to write or email from the RMT website here to request that their MP attends the Fair Pay for RFA briefing.

It is essential that we keep the political pressure up on the Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood MP during the current period of industrial action against pay austerity in the RFA. In the last pay round (2018-19) the Ministry of Defence increased pay in the Royal Navy by 2.9% but imposed yet another below inflation settlement on RFA's civilian seafarers. 95% of RMT members in the RFA had rejected the 1.5% pay offer and over 88% of the votes cast in the industrial action ballot were in favour of industrial action in the RFA.

Our RFA members have clearly registered with their Union that they have had enough of being treated as second class employees by the Ministry of Defence. As well as doing their own work, merchant navy Ratings on the RFA fleet also help carry out a significant proportion of the Royal Navy’s work. Despite this, the Ministry of Defence imposed yet another below inflation settlement and broke the public sector pay cap for Royal Navy personnel.

We will not allow RFA members to continue to be taken for granted by a complacent employer and a Government that seems to think it can endlessly exploit our members’ loyalty and commitment to the job. RMT is taking the fight for Fair Pay for RFA seafarers to Parliament and I look forward to seeing you there on 17th July.

I would be grateful if you could alert all members in your branch to the contents of this circular and I will keep you updated with all further details.

Yours sincerely

Mick Cash
General Secretary