Workers at Royal Navy bases including Faslane to walk out over job loss fears

Subcontractor workers for the Royal Navy are to stage a day-long walkout over fears of job losses.

Members of the Prospect union working at Serco Marine will take strike action over what it called a refusal of the company to engage with staff on the parameters of a new contract with the Ministry of Defence.

The union said the contract “may have important implications for staff” and could “severely limit the work of the Royal Navy”.

The £250m contract under negotiation deals with afloat services, mainly at Faslane, Portsmouth and Devonport.

Prospect said this includes all towage activities, bunkering and watering, tank cleaning, passenger services, trials work, munitions and nuclear safety activities for the Navy.

Serco runs several security, transport and immigration contracts and operates 91 vessels used to tow larger ships to and from land.

A 24-hour walkout is set for February 3 and will be followed by continuous action short of a strike from February 4 – including an overtime ban and work to rule.

The union is calling for a pause on new contract negotiations to allow for further discussion.

Sue Ferns, senior deputy general eecretary 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.”

The MoD said Royal Navy operational priorities – including the Continuous At Sea Deterrent and aircraft carriers – will not be affected during the strike.

A spokesperson said: “While this is a matter between the contractor and their workforce, we stand by to assist in the resolution process where appropriate.”

A Serco spokesperson said: “We are disappointed that Prospect Union members have decided to take strike action.

“Our discussions with the MOD regarding their requirements for the Next Generation In-Port contract remain ongoing and at present the level of service we provide on our current contract remains unchanged.”