Workers Party of Britain electoral candidate for Helensburgh, Paul Burrows, says local people support workers at Coulport and Faslane who are likely to take strike action in March. Paul, a former bus driver is a lifelong trade unionist and socialist who has lived in the area for more than a decade. Paul says that the Workers Party of Britain agrees that staff are right to be concerned at further plans for outsourcing and privatisation at Clyde nuclear bases.
The Unite union are balloting members and it could lead to walkouts at Coulport and Faslane as early as mid-March.
Workers have rejected a “derisory” pay offer from Babcock and are unhappy at the firm’s refusal to work with them on the future design of the bases in the wake of the Ministry of Defence’s Future Maritime Support Programme (FMSP) according to the Daily Record.
Stephen Deans, Unite regional coordinating officer, said they had “major concerns that even if Babcock does win the contracts then there are plans to privatise and outsource more areas to companies at the naval bases”.
He warned it could mean “greater fragmentation and outsourcing” of work at the bases and “a race to the bottom for pay, terms and conditions”.
