Striking workers from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution's (RNLI) closing manufacturing centre will be demonstrating against job losses at the charity's head office in Poole today.
Earlier this year, RNLI confirmed that it would close the Inshore Lifeboat Centre (ILC) on the Isle of Wight by the end of next year, affecting 70 employees.
Members of trade union Unite at the centre in East Cowes then took industrial action on 11 and 19 August in protest and will do so again today.
At the same time, a Unite officer and some of the workers will be demonstrating at the Poole head offices to mark the final day of protest.
Unite has accused RNLI management of refusing to negotiate better redundancy terms for affected workers despite the industrial action.
“It has instead offered them voluntary redundancy or a relocation package to move to Poole, which isn’t feasible for most staff on the Isle of Wight due to family commitments and Poole having a high cost of living,” a spokesperson for the union said.
The union also accused RNLI of refusing to share how much the East Cowes site’s closure would save compared with the costs of making the around 70 staff redundant.
“Unite has now gone to the Central Arbitration Committee requesting that the RNLI discloses this information to the union,” they added.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The RNLI is choosing profits over retaining its skilled workforce. Not only is it refusing to negotiate with the union, it is now withholding key information that can inform these discussions.
“Its behaviour has been nothing short of disgraceful. Our members deserve to have the full facts and have no choice but to take the fight to the RNLI’s headquarters. They have Unite’s complete support.”
RNLI responds
A RNLI spokesperson responded by saying it has offered an “enhanced” redundancy package, which goes above the statutory requirement and other areas of support.
“We have engaged openly with Unite whenever opportunities have arisen and remain focused on supporting our employees through this period of change,” they said.
“Unite's statements continue to inaccurately reflect the extensive engagement that we have undertaken and fails to publicly recognise the information we have shared with them along with the sincere efforts that have been made to support our colleagues throughout this difficult period.”
The spokesperson continued: “Through formal consultation, employee forums, drop-in sessions, and one-to-one conversations, we have developed a comprehensive support package which goes above statutory requirement and compares positively across the charity sector.
“It includes voluntary redundancy, redeployment, relocation, and career transition support. We have also committed to guaranteed job opportunities in our Poole Production Facility for production employees, alongside financial and practical support for those who choose to relocate.
“We recognise this is a difficult time for our ILC colleagues and the East Cowes community. As a charity we must ensure we are using our donor’s money wisely, and in most effective way so we remain financially sustainable for generations to come.
“While we are disappointed that industrial action is taking place, we continue to put wellbeing of our employees at the heart of our approach, and we will continue to provide support to all our staff at the ILC.”
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