With solidarity, nothing is impossible

Workers at the Isle of Wight’s RNLI Inshore Lifeboat Centre have taken a second day of strike in their ongoing campaign to protect jobs and skills on the island, and get a fair deal from the charity.

Placards and banners on the picket line spell out the frustration of workers at the boat yard in Cowes. “No more delay! Fair Redundancy Pay!” says one, while another says that “If the RNLI care, why not Pay Fair” and another calls the RNLI the “Really Not Loyal Institution”

The Unite members voted for strike action following the failure of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) to offer improvements to a redundancy package for workers, despite weeks of negotiations.

Last May, the RNLI stated it would close the Inshore Lifeboat Centre by 2028. This would cause job losses and have a huge impact on the local community as it would result in the charity only building lifeboats in Poole, Dorset.

Workers at the Inshore Lifeboat Centre do a highly skilled role supplying and maintaining lifeboats for over half of the 238 stations run by the charity across the UK.

There are concerns that closing the site will not only result in job losses, but also have a negative effect on the local economy as there are few work opportunities on the island. It would also result in skilled work being moved to the mainland.

Though fighting to keep the jobs on the island one thing workers want is a fair redundancy package, but talks between conciliatory body ACAS and the RNLI broke down, after the RNLI said it would not offer any enhancement on the redundancy payments due to the ‘generous’ relocation allowance it has offered to staff. 

However Poole is one of the most expensive places to rent or buy in the South West, with luxury sea front developments springing up and pricing out locals. Only this June the cost of housing in Poole was raised at Parliament by local MP Neil Ducan-Jordan, who said, “Wages in Poole are too low and housing costs are too high. Residents don’t need waves of unaffordable waterfront developments, we need homes local people can actually afford.”

Against this background relocation to Poole isn’t feasible for their finances or their families.

The union is calling on the RNLI to negotiate a fair package for workers who will be made redundant after the organisation promised them a ‘job for life’.

Throughout August workers have been taking industrial action. The first stoppage was last week on Tuesday (11 August),  followed by today’s strike (19 August). A following day of action is planned for next Tuesday (25 August)

Unite member Scott Armiger has worked for the RNLI for 34 years and is feeling let down, saying he had “pretty much dedicated my entire working life to them.

“Not only have I done that, I’ve fundraised for them and also volunteered as lifeboat crew at Cowes for six years – so I’ve actually put my life on the line for these people.

To be losing my job here is, for all of us, going to be absolutely terrible.”

Scott said the workers were fighting for fairness and proper redundancy pay, adding “What management needs to do is come to the table and negotiate, not sit back and say that we can’t do anything for you at this point other than what they are already offering.”

Unite Rep Finlay Lockhart explained it was about more than the job, saying. “I’m a boat builder, so we build boats here, but we’ve all built our lives around working for the RNLI. 

I’ve been in the marine industry for probably 15 years. I love boats, I love the water, I like the job that I do and I like working with the people. We’re a really close knit bunch of people.”

Finlay said that the work the RNLI do saving people is important to workers, “They know that even though they are working in a boat building yard they are contributing to stopping people losing their lives at sea.

Finlay said that when he started he was told it would be a “job for life”, which suited him as he “wanted something stable” where he could build a career.

On a personal level the impact on Finlay and his family will be huge, as he explained, “My wife is due to have a baby in a couple of weeks time, so there is going to be a big change there – and looking for a job at the same time is going to be tough.

“That’s just my story. Everyone else has their own things. Everyone’s got family, there’s a lot of people relying on this wage coming in to survive.”

As well as picketing the workplace, workers have been taking their message to East Cowes to ask businesses and travellers at the ferry port to support Unite’s petition.

Unite regional officer Jamie Major said: “Our members have had no choice but to take strike action, after receiving a strong mandate for industrial action, following the RNLI’s refusal to negotiate better redundancy terms.

“The time for the RNLI’s avoidance tactics and management putting their heads in the sand is over. The RNLI needs to do the right thing and give these workers, their families and the community the respect they deserve.”

Unite is planning to increase its campaign to raise awareness of the plight of the high skilled RNLI workers on the Isle of Wight – and will be taking the message of a fair deal for members to the International Boat Show in Southampton in September.

In the meantime the Unite members who build boats that save lives are standing together and to paraphrase the RNLI slogan – “With solidarity, nothing is impossible.”

Below are some pictures from the strike.

By Keith Hatch

Photos by Lukas Antczak