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00:00Fair pay! Fair pay! Fair pay! Fair pay! Fair pay! Fair pay! Fair pay!
00:09When they say cut back, we say strike back!
00:30This is not my first protest.
00:32I was a regular on the Belfast protest scene.
00:41Fair pay!
00:42RFA!
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01:27RFA!
01:29Our members at the Royal Fleet Auxiliary
01:39have gone on strike for the very first time,
01:42because they're underpaid, they're undervalued
01:45and they're overworked.
01:47They had a pay negotiation
01:50that was pushed through for the 2023-2024 negotiating,
01:54and it was a below inflation pay rise
01:56pushed through without their agreement and we've been in dispute with the RFA
02:00ever since. Why do your members feel like you're underpaid currently?
02:06Has there been a real terms pay cut over a long period of time? Absolutely yeah
02:09over the last 10 years there's been a real terms pay cut across the RFA. The
02:13pay has not been keeping up with inflation and their pay also hasn't been
02:17keeping up with the other services so Royal Navy pay for example, the Army, the
02:22Air Force, they've all been getting better pay deals than our members at the
02:27Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Because of that lack of pay do you feel like the Royal Fleet Auxiliary is
02:33under strain staffing wise? Is there a bit of a shortage at all? Absolutely I mean
02:36it's the pay, it's the conditions as well. They've been asked to work overtime,
02:41extra hours to do two or three people's work so they're putting in a lot more
02:45time, a lot more effort for you know not much more pay. So they're really stretched
02:50at the moment, they're really demoralised and they just really feel like now's the
02:54time to make a stand and to really get the pay that they deserve. We've had some informal talks with
02:59them, they haven't as yet come up with a formal pay offer for that 2023-2024
03:05period that we are in dispute over so we are at the minute waiting and hoping
03:09that they come to us with a good decent offer that reflects the quality of work
03:14and the good jobs that our members do. And where do you see the future of the
03:18RFA if pay disputes like this continue? Well it's going to become under
03:22increasing pressure really to be able to operate the service at its full capacity
03:27and that will have knock-on effects for the Royal Navy as well because of course
03:31it is a Royal Fleet Auxiliary that ensures that those naval operations can
03:35continue to operate in conflict zones around the world. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary is
03:40absolutely vital to the operations of the Royal Navy. These are the people that
03:45supply their ships with ship supplies, food, fuel, water, they supply their
03:52ammunition and they help them operate in all of those conflict zones around the world.
03:58And do you think the Royal Navy would not be able to cope if the RFA continued to go on industrial action like this?
04:03We have done a back of the flag packet calculation and within a very short period of time,
04:08maybe as short as six weeks time, that Royal Navy services will be really, really,
04:12find it very difficult to operate if these strikes continue.
04:16So the UK's ability to mobilise on defensive operations, they could run into problems if industrial action keeps going like this?
04:24Absolutely, yeah. I think the UK Royal Navy will find it very difficult to operate at its current levels in those conflict situations that we've been discussing.
04:33And finally, you mentioned that your members feel undervalued, do you see prospective people who want to join the RFA being put off
04:40because of the current emotions that many of the union members feel?
04:43Absolutely, well we can see the RFA is hemorrhaging staff at the moment because of that poor pay, because of those conditions
04:50and it is really struggling to employ enough staff members, fully qualified staff members.
04:56Don't forget these people go through four years of training ashore and at sea before they can even be fully qualified and enter the service.
05:04So the RFA is really struggling to find really good, qualified people right now.