Day One Of Red Funnel Strike Action — All You Need To Know

Today (Wednesday) is the first day of strike action on Red Funnel.

Around 20 per cent of the workforce (120 Unite the Union members) are taking industrial action over pay.

In response, the cross-Solent operator has published timetable changes for its vehicle ferry service.

As well as today, the following dates are affected:

• 1, 3, 5, 9, 11, 15, 17, 19, 23, 26, 29 of August

The company has confirmed that strike action is not currently anticipated to have an impact on its Red Jet services. 

Red Funnel said it has contacted all passengers affected by strike action.

Fran Collins, Chief Executive at Red Funnel, said:

“It is incredibly disappointing that, despite our fair and reasonable offer, Unite members have chosen to strike.

“We value all our colleagues and are keen to recognise their contribution to the company. However, pay increases must also be considered in line with what the business and its customers can sustain to ensure we can continue to provide lifeline services to the Isle of Wight, protect the Island economy and ensure a sustainable future for our business in its 161^st year.

"This claim is in relation to 2022 pay and should have been settled by January 2022. We are pleased that pay claims for all other colleagues have already been settled for 2022. Our offer of 4.5% (and 6.3% for 6 ranks) is fair and reasonable and aligns with our industry. We are sympathetic to the current cost of living challenges, but reiterate that they did not play a part in our pay talks.

“It is important to recognise Red Funnel is owned by three pension funds, one in Canada and two in the UK, which represent a range of former public and private sector workers. Those pension funds have not taken any money out of the business in the last three years. They have provided millions of pounds of finance to support Red Funnel throughout the pandemic and with essential recovery. We were also supported by the Government to secure the provision of essential services during the darkest days of the pandemic but must now manage our own recovery as a business.

“Our absolute priority today is continuing to provide a lifeline service, ensuring passengers can travel safely for work, education, and essential medical appointments. We will also be supporting our colleagues who are working. We are working hard to minimise disruption for our customers and to date we have rebooked 25,000 bookings onto alternative sailings throughout strike days in August.

“It is not appropriate for us to comment on other businesses; however, we are keen to recognise our teams in the bargaining unit (which excludes our cleaning colleagues) with a pay increase. We can only do this once this dispute has been resolved.

"We give a range of pay and benefits to our colleagues as well as their base pay. Despite the challenges and rising costs, as recognition of our teams’ loyalty and dedication in 2021 we were able to offer a 1% pay uplift for all colleagues, plus staff bonuses and recognition payments that on average, paid out £991 per employee. We have also taken the opportunity to enhance employee benefits in addition to the 2022 salary uplift offer. These include enhanced sick pay and annual leave arrangements, opportunity to receive private medical insurance, and review the long-service scheme to recognise loyalty in addition to payment for the additional Jubilee bank holiday weekend, regardless of contract type.

“As a 24-hour business we provide colleagues with access to hotels or fully equipped en-suite accommodation, which has been inspected and approved by HSE. Unite the Union has been invited to view the accommodation facilities, which they have not yet done.

“We continue to engage with Unite in an effort to resolve this dispute as soon as possible and sincerely apologise that our customers are inconvenienced by this situation.”

Unite the Union said Red Funnel’s treatment of workers has been "disgusting".

Staff have rejected a pay offer of 4.5 per cent from Red Funnel, increasing to 6.5 per cent for the lowest paid staff. 

Unite said customer service staff, shunters and ratings are increasingly struggling to pay increased rents. 

It claims some are turning to food banks and ‘making the most’ of onboard food allowances at work to keep bills down.

Red Funnel said "it must be realistic in terms of what the business can afford to ensure it can continue to provide lifeline services for customers and promote the long-term success of the Island economy."

Red Funnel customer services teams are available to help passengers with questions about their travel arrangements [email protected].uk.