ROYAL FLEET AUXILIARY VOTE FOR INDUSTRIAL ACTION IN PENSIONS FIGHT

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: november/december 2011 :: RMTnews 13 R MT members on the Royal Fleet Auxiliary have voted by large margins for strike action and action short of a strike in the dispute over pension cuts. Around 60 per cent voted for strike action and 80 per cent for action short of a strike. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that the Royal Fleet Auxiliary services the Royal Navy in times of both war and peace. “It is nothing short of a scandal that brave men and women who risk their lives to get supplies through to the ships in war zones around the world are facing an attack on their pensions by this government to help bail out the bankers financial crisis. “Only recently we learned that top bankers’ salaries have risen by 12 per cent while the men and women out on the high seas in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary are expected to stand back and watch the pensions that they have built up over the years take a battering,” he said. RMT national secretary Steve Todd said that members at the Royal Fleet Auxiliary were angry about an attack on pensions that would see them pay more, work longer and get less, and that anger was reflected in the vote for action. “We are calling upon the government even at this late stage in the run up to November 30 to think again and haul back from a position that would see loyal public servants like RFA staff footing the bill for a crisis cooked up in the boardrooms and on the trading floors of the spivs and the speculators,” Steve said. R MT has successfully launched a new RMT group in the Wales Assembly. A number of Assembly members have agreed to join the RMT Group to support the campaign for public ownership and rail improvements, fight the McNulty cuts and campaign against the exploitation of seafarers in the Irish sea, the threat to ferry services to Ireland and the huge squeeze on bus services. Wales Labour Transport Minister Carl Sargeant addressed a well attended RMT reception for Wales Assembly members. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: “RMT recognises the importance of building cross-party support for our campaigning priorities around rail, shipping and road and at this time of cuts we will be looking to build alliances with Assembly members to maximise resistance to the Westminster austerity agenda” Campaigning in the Wales Assembly Left to right: North West and North Wales Regional Council Secretary Darren Ireland, South Wales and West Regional Council Secretary Steve Skelly, North West and North Wales Regional Council President Billy Kim, RMT group convenor Mick Antoniw AM, RMT Wales political advisor Brian Curtis, South Wales and West Regional Council President Roger Fowler, Bob Crow and regional organiser Brendan Kelly CAMPAIGNING IN WALES ROYAL FLEET AUXILIARY VOTE FOR INDUSTRIAL ACTION IN PENSIONS FIGHT