Vital Navy support workers to go on strike

Prospect members working at Serco Marine will take strike action over a refusal of the company to engage with members on the parameters of a new contract with Ministry of Defence.

The contract may have important implications for staff at the company and could severely limit the work of the Royal Navy.

Strike action will be for 24 hours on 3 February 2025 and will be followed by continuous action short of a strike from 4 February 2025. Action short will include an overtime ban and work to rule.

The contract in question is for afloat services mainly at Faslane, Portsmouth and Devonport, and includes all towage activities, bunkering and watering, tank cleaning, passenger services, trials work, munitions and nuclear safety activities for the Royal Navy.

The work Prospect members carry out in Marine Services is critical to the Continuous At Sea Deterrent (CASD) and the deployment of all naval assets including aircraft carriers, on a day-to-day basis 24/7 365 days a year.

Sue Ferns, Senior Deputy General Secretary of Prospect, said:

“Our members don’t want to take industrial action but we need to be engaged on the new contract or there is a real danger that our fleet will not get the support it needs to function properly.

“What we are calling for is for the contract to be paused so the implications of any changes can be properly considered and addressed.

“Our assessment is that if it continues as planned it will mean the loss of vital jobs which it will not be then possible to replace when the navy inevitably realises that it has made a mistake. Pausing now and reconsidering will avoid a costly and dangerous mistake.”