RNLI (UNITE) Strike Calendar

Last month, the RNLI stated it would close the Inshore Lifeboat Centre by 2028, which would cause job losses and have a huge impact on the local community and local marine industry, and would only build lifeboats in Poole, Dorset, instead. Talks between conciliatory body ACAS and the RNLI broke down, after the RNLI said it would not offer any enhancement on the redundancy payments due to the ‘generous’ relocation allowance it has offered to staff.

However, for most workers at the Inshore Lifeboat Centre, relocating to Poole, a more expensive area, from the island isn’t feasible for their finances or their families. The union is calling on the RNLI to negotiate a fair package for these workers that will be made redundant after the organisation promised them a ‘job for life’. The workforce in East Cowes do a highly skilled role supplying and maintaining lifeboats for over half of the 238 stations run by the RNLI across the UK.