Shipyard workers ‘will not accept redundancies’ over frigates delay
A UNION official has warned that shipyard workers will not accept any redundancies as a result of the delay to eight new Royal Navy frigates.
Duncan McPhee, Unite convener at BAE Systems’ Scotstoun yard, said it will be difficult to retain jobs if the delay to the Type 26 frigates rolls on indefinitely but that the MoD is duty bound to maintain a standing qualified workforce.
The MoD’s chief executive for equipment, Tony Douglas, told MPs on Wednesday that no start date had yet been set because the design of the warships was only 60 per cent complete.
The MoD has denied that a shortage of money is behind the delay, but Mr McPhee said: “There’s no doubt about it - it is a financial situation.”
He told the BBC: “Money has been removed from the programme and that money has to be reinstated to get that contract started in a more realistic timetable.
“The further they delay it, the costs increase, so it makes no sense.”
Former first sea lord Admiral Lord West said last month that cutting steel had been put back from 2016 because “there’s almost no money available this year”.
Defence Committee chairman Julian Lewis warned that delays could end up costing money, as the operating life of the Type 23 craft may have to be extended.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon accused the MoD of breaking a promise it made to shipyard workers.
SNP defence spokesman Brendan O’Hara said an indefinite delay “would be an utter betrayal to workers”.
Mr McPhee said: “It’s a very serious problem as it has given us workload issues, obviously, but I wouldn’t say it was a betrayal. It would be a betrayal if contracts were cancelled or given to someone else.”