Tug crews have called off a strike at Devonport Dockyard and naval base which had threatened to plunge the Royal Navy into “Christmas chaos”.
The Christmas Day walk-out has been averted while talks continue between the Unite union and bosses at Serco Marine – but a strike in January is still on the cards.
Staff employed by Serco Marine in Plymouth decided to postponed strikes over the Christmas holidays to allow for talks mediated by the conciliation service ACAS, Unite said.
About 40 tractor tug crew members were planning to strike between December 25 and 30 after Serco Marine imposed a change to working patterns from a one-week cycle to a three-week cycle. The duty rota changes also mean the workers lose annual leave allocations.
But planned strikes from the 11 January to 16 January 2021 are still scheduled to go ahead if the ACAS negotiations are not successful, Unite said.
Unite regional coordinating officer Terry Keefe said: “In a gesture of good faith our members have postponed strikes scheduled to go ahead over the Christmas holidays to allow ACAS talks to be conducted.
“Unite hopes to find a resolution to this dispute without the need for industrial action and we urge Serco Marine to rethink their proposals and table a solution at the ACAS talks that our members can accept.”
The strike action had been called earlier in December after a ballot, with a 92.3% turnout, saw 97.2% vote in favour of strike action.
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The tug boats are vital for assisting Royal Navy vessels, including surface ships and submarines, to leave and return to harbour safely.
Unite said that its members had taken “the difficult decision to strike” because the changes will “dangerously increase fatigue” amongst tug crews, who deal with a whole host of military vessels, including nuclear submarines.
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Moving from a one-week to a three-week rota will also adversely affect the crew members’ home and family lives, the union claimed.
Unite called on the Ministry of Defence to intervene to prevent Serco Marine from introducing the rota changes, which it said are an attempt to “eke every last penny out of the contract”.
Bosses at outsourcing giant Serco have always said they are willing to continue talks with union reps in a bid to prevent any strike action.
Serco Marine said it has offered a compromise and said it is still hopeful a solution can be found. Serco Marine has said it is frustrated and disappointed that Unite is taking industrial action, and that the small number of employees who have voted for this action could impact the service it provides for the Royal Navy.
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Serco Marine claimed the changes it is introducing are aligned to industry practice and meet maritime regulatory compliance, and all employees will be off for 26 weeks of the year with 30 days annual leave.
Salli Shapcott, Serco’s contract director said: “We welcome the decision by Unite to suspend their strike action scheduled for the Christmas period. The changes that we are introducing are aligned to industry practice and meet maritime regulatory compliance, and all employees will be off for 26 weeks of the year with 30 days annual leave. We have offered a compromise solution and stand ready to continue the discussions, either through ACAS or directly with Unite.”