Coastguard staff to strike over pay

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union said up to 700 employees at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) will stage a walkout on March 6, hitting emergency calls and operations at 19 UK rescue co-ordination centres, which control search and rescue operations.

Four out of five workers backed a campaign of industrial action after complaining that pay rates at the agency were "way behind" other emergency services.

Mark Serwotka, the union's general secretary, said: "This unprecedented vote and move to strike action illustrates the depth of anger amongst staff who provide a vital emergency service.

"This is not a step which our Coastguard members have taken lightly. The Government's policy of holding down public sector pay increases below the level of inflation is creating disputes across the civil and public services.

"In MCA pay levels are so low that Watch Assistants have needed a special pay rise to bring them up to the level of the national minimum wage.

"The Government cannot continue to ignore the men and women who ensure the safety of shipping in British waters and who save lives through their professionalism in co-ordinating search and rescue operations."

The strike will not involve Coastguards.

Meanwhile, itt will be business as usual on March 6 for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, which launches its lifeboats more than 8,000 times a year in response to Coastguard requests.

The charity's spokesman, Spencer Gammond, said: "We are taking steps to ensure that, despite the strike, our volunteer crews will still be alerted whenever and wherever they are needed."