UK Coastguard Pay

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Dave_Rolfe

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As users of the UK Coastline and the waters that surround it we should all
be aware of the part that the UK Coastguard take in helping to keep it a
safe environment for us all and to hear our calls for them provide
assistance should things go wrong and we need help.

Unfortunately the UK Government do no see them as a vital part of the
coastal infrastructure and pay the Coastguard teams paltry salaries, often
barely above minimum wage levels. Coastguard personnel are currently
undertaking selected industrial action in a bid to persuade the Government
to bring their pay in line with other Emergency Services such as Police, Fire and
Ambulance staff. The Coastguard are dedicated teams of staff that work twelve hour
shifts, often dealing with peoples lives when a Mayday or 999 call is
received.

A petition has been created on the Prime Ministers web site to support the
coastguard in their quest for equal pay and it can be accessed using the
following link, just copy and paste it into your browser

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/CoastguardPay/

Please find the time to access the petition and provide your support to the
people who will support you at just the time that you may need them

Please forward this e-mail on to other coast and sea users so they can
express their support also.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Ok, done that. But I doubt it will have any more effect than the thousands of other petitions that the Gov't ignores every month.

[/ QUOTE ]
Agree with the CG. But how about a petition that the Government take more notice of petitions?
 
Not just the coastguard who are badly underpaid. A lot of public service employees are in the same boat. It doesn't make any difference what type of work we do, we all need a decent pay increase. The coastguard workers case is not in my opinion any more deserving than all the others.
CJ
 
[ QUOTE ]
Not just the coastguard who are badly underpaid. A lot of public service employees are in the same boat. It doesn't make any difference what type of work we do, we all need a decent pay increase. The coastguard workers case is not in my opinion any more deserving than all the others.

It may be some day if you ever find yourself in a mayday situation.
I dont think folk from any of the other sectors are going to aid your distress.
CJ

[/ QUOTE ]
 
"and to hear our calls for them provide
assistance should things go wrong and we need help."

Er, we all may need an ambulance, or a fire brigade, but should leisure sailors insist on the taxpayer shelling out? I'm not so comfortable with the idea.
 
Done but I don't believe the Government (whatever colour) take any notice. After all, the largest every petition with millions of signatures about Post Office closures achieved precisely zilch!
 
Not sure I understand your point. Mine is that the coastguard workers's claim for a decent wage is no more deserving than many other public sector workers. It doesn't make a jot of difference what work it is that we do, we are all entitled to a fair pay for the work that we do.
CJ
 
[ QUOTE ]
Not just the coastguard who are badly underpaid. A lot of public service employees are in the same boat. It doesn't make any difference what type of work we do, we all need a decent pay increase. The coastguard workers case is not in my opinion any more deserving than all the others.
CJ

[/ QUOTE ]

There are many people both inside and outside the marine industry who work both the same lousy hours and same lousy pay. I can certainly think of more deserving causes. Unfortunately, they do not have any power to take any action. This makes the Coastguard action appear rather undeservedly selfish as this dispute lengthens.

I think it would be better if they put things off for a while and try and get better conditions rather than an increase in pay.
 
[ QUOTE ]
...pay the Coastguard teams paltry salaries, often
barely above minimum wage levels.

[/ QUOTE ]

Can you flesh this out a bit for us? Are you saying that they all work for the National Minimum Wage? Can you give details or a link to the actual pay scales for different grades?

How does this pay compare with comparable work in other sectors?
 
I'm not sure that too many leisure boaters would be so enamoured of the Coastguard if the said Coastguard were to treat them similarly to how they presently act towards owners of commercially coded craft. To the commercial operators they have become the traffic police of the seaways. Sure they will arrange a rescue in a professional and efficient manner, but having done that they will be waiting on the quay to cause all sorts of harrassment, with the possibility of a prosecution not entirely out of the question. I would imagine that if the Coastguard had the resources, they would readily turn their attention to the leisure side of boating with a similar zeal to that which is currently directed towards commercial operators.
I appreciate that this is another story, not related to the current pay dispute, but it is worth bearing in mind that they are not always as friendly as they sound on the VHF airwaves.
CJ
 
Maybe some of the increased duty we all face on red diesel could be used towards funding the CG pay claims? Would people feel happy about that?
 
It would appear that the coastguard get significantly less than employees in the other emergency services.

[ QUOTE ]
About 700 members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) began their walkout on Saturday and will return to work on Monday evening.

The Bank Holiday weekend strike follows five days of industrial action earlier this year at the UK's rescue co-ordination centres.

The PCS claims staff have experienced real-terms pay cuts, with pay rises averaging 2.5% for most staff, and less than 1% for senior personnel.

Staff want a rise of £3,000 on their current base salary of about £12,500 a year.

'Had enough'

Paul Smith of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) told BBC News that staff in the operations rooms were earning just above the national minimum wage.

"The salaries our members earn in the Coastguard Agency are significantly behind those within the other emergency services," he said.



[/ QUOTE ]
In view of this I would suggest that we should give them our wholehearted support. Having said that I am not in the least surprised to see the usual carping whingers coming out of the Scuttlebutt woodwork.

Shame on you - go and sign the petition.

- W
 
[ QUOTE ]
Not just the coastguard who are badly underpaid. A lot of public service employees are in the same boat. It doesn't make any difference what type of work we do, we all need a decent pay increase.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh yes, it does.
If all H&S Inspectors, the equal opportunity bollocks lot, etc... were fired we could pay the CG what they deserve.
 
I'm not sure it's PC to say equal opportunity bollocks. It should be equal opportunity gonads, or equal opportunity reproductive organs shouldn't it?
 
I don't think sack is PC either, as it also refers to a part of the male anatomy....... /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
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