TRADE union members at Faslane and Coulport are to hold a ballot for industrial action in a dispute over pay and bargaining rights with their civilian employer.

The Unite trade union says industrial action, potentially including strikes, could affect HM Naval Base Clyde from mid-March if its members support the idea.

The union says three groups of workers are being balloted – Babcock industrial staff, including electricians, plumbers and joiners; Babcock non-industrial workers, including engineers, supervisors, managers and admin staff; and ISS Facility Services workers.

Unite says it has decided to hold the ballot after 99.7 per cent of its membership at Faslane and Coulport rejected a Babcock pay offer and gave "overwhelming support" to a "single bargaining agreement" over what contracts might look like in years to come for civilian firms operating at the base under the Ministry of Defence's Future Maritime Support Programme.

The union also says 99.2 per cent of members taking part in a consultative ballot – on an 85 per cent turnout – indicated they would be willing to take industrial action, up to and including a strike.

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Stephen Deans, Unite regional coordinating officer, said: “The industrial action ballots come after fruitless discussions with both Babcock Marine and ISS Facility Services at the Clyde naval bases.

"Unite’s membership is rightly furious over the derisory pay offers and Babcock's rigid refusal to even discuss with us the workplace arrangements following the outcome of the Ministry of Defence’s Future Maritime Support Programme.”

“We have 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.

"In the scenario that Babcock Marine doesn’t win all of the contracts it is competing for, then our members and also the country face an even worse situation.

"What's on the immediate horizon is greater fragmentation and outsourcing at Coulport and Faslane, a race to the bottom for pay, terms and conditions. This is a situation we believe will ultimately impair and fracture the strength of our defence capabilities.

READ MORE: Unite suspends plans for industrial action at Faslane and Coulport (from 2017)

"It’s astonishing that Babcock Marine are refusing to agree to work with us regarding the future of the base following the contract decisions.

""Unite's sole objective is to bring this together in a coordinated way in the interests of the workforce and the country.

"If support for industrial action is forthcoming then this dispute, which will happen at a very sensitive juncture, is due to the company's intransigence, and we hope the public and the politicians understand this."

The ballot will run from Thursday, February 11 until Thursday, February 25.

A spokesperson for Babcock International said: "We were notified at the end of last week of Unite’s intention to ballot for industrial action. 

"Having agreed a 2020 pay deal with part of our workforce, we are keen to keep engaging with Unite representatives to try and find a mutually acceptable resolution for their members.  

"On the matter of the Future Maritime Support Programme, we are currently engaged in a commercially confidential procurement process with the Ministry of Defence and are therefore unable to comment further."

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