Warning potential strike action could leave mariners in the dark
Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) workers are being balloted for the first time in a pay dispute over a real terms pay cut.
Unite the union confirmed a ballot of its members opened on Tuesday March 28 and will run until Monday April 24, with around 30 Unite members participating in the vote on strike action.
The NLB maintains and operates Scotland’s lighthouses, beacons and buoys and carries out technical operations in Oban. This is the first time their workers will be balloted on strike action in a pay dispute in the board’s 236-year history.
The workers, including seamen, base assistants, cooks and technicians, help ensure vessels and ships are safe in Scottish waters.
Unite industrial officer Alison Maclean said: “If there is no revised pay offer then quite literally the beacons and buoys at sea could go out or remain faulty due to any strike action our members could take.
“This would present major safety issues for vessels passing through Scottish waters.”
The NLB has offered a two per cent pay rise, following a pay freeze last year, which Unite says amounts to a substantial real terms pay cut over two years.
Mike Bullock, NLB’s chief executive, said: “The NLB is aware that members of Unite are being balloted for industrial action.
“NLB’s most important asset is its team of around 200 mariners, engineers and specialist support staff and we do everything practicable to ensure our people are provided with the right conditions to ensure they can continue to deliver a vital safety service to mariners.
“The financial pressure placed on individuals due to high inflation is fully appreciated, however, as an arm’s length body of the Department for Transport, NLB is bound entirely by UK Government pay policy.”
Mr Bullock added: “The NLB pay offer is subject to formal review and approval at each step. The pay settlement has gone through an exhaustive approval process which leaves NLB with no room to manoeuvre.”
The organisation maintains 208 lighthouses across Scotland and the Isle of Man. It also has two vessels based in Oban, the NLV Pharos and the NLV Pole Star.