Poverty pay puts sea safety at risk
16 September 2008
PCS officials warned that the government and the MCA were putting lives at risk by their continued refusal to negotiate meaningfully. The strongly supported strike led to the closure of nearly half of the UK’s 19 rescue co-ordination centres with the remainder operating a severely reduced service.
The latest stoppage brings the number of strike days taken this year to eight in a dispute prompted by pay levels that fall way behind those in other emergency services.
Pay levels in the MCA are so low that coastguard watch assistants, who actively participate in search planning and other duties in response to 999 calls, are on the national minimum wage.
With starting salaries of £12,509, staff have also been expected to stomach a pay cut in real terms with pay rises averaging just 2.5% for many and less than 1% for the most experienced.
Negotiations officer Paul Smith said: “This latest action could have been avoided if the government and the MCA hadn’t continued with their refusal to negotiate a satisfactory outcome to this dispute. Industrial action is avoidable if the government and the agency recognise they have to pay coastguards a fair wage that is comparable to other emergency services.”
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