Royal Fleet Auxiliary seafarers to strike in March

Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) seafarers will take strike action on 5-6 March. The dispute is over pay, transparency and compliance with minimum wage legislation.

The RFA provides operational and logistical support to the Royal Navy. However, the crews are civilian seafarers and they can be members of the RMT union.

Strike action will take place from 00:01 hours on Thursday 5 March until 23:59 hours on Friday 6 March 2026.

If the ship is in port, members must not book on for any duty commencing during that period.

Seafarers to strike but ensure ship safety

During the strike, members will maintain the safety of the ship at all times, including moorings and gangways.

The action follows a strong ballot result in which members voted by nine to one to reject the latest pay offer and back industrial action.

RFA members met after the ballot result and agreed there was a clear aspiration to use the mandate immediately to send a strong message to the RFA and the Ministry of Defence that they must take this situation seriously.

RMT has welcomed the overwhelming vote for strike action after management failed to make a decent pay offer or show it was complying with minimum wage legislation.

Seafarers can routinely work up to 12 hours a day. However, there remains no clear or transparent formula setting out how to calculate pay against those hours.

RMT General Secretary Eddie Dempsey said:

RFA members want a decent pay offer and for the employer to show it is complying with all minimum wage legislation.

Our members, who are the most highly trained seafarers, perform incredibly difficult tasks in often dangerous circumstances, supporting their colleagues in the Royal Navy, whilst spending months at a time away from their families.

Years of real terms pay cuts have left dedicated RFA seafarers worse off, demoralised and this latest offer falls well short of expectations, and significantly below comparable employers within the sector.

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary and the Ministry of Defence must now get around the table with us to address our members’ immediate concerns and tackle the crewing crisis.

That means a clear long-term commitment on pay and conditions, including National Minimum Wage compliance, if they are serious about retention and want to maintain credibility.

This dispute can be resolved, but only if there is a commitment from those with decision making powers to take these matters seriously.

Featured image via the Canary