TRADE union bosses say their members at RNAD Coulport have been left with "no option but to take industrial action" over a pay dispute - and strikes have not been ruled out.

Around 70 workers at the Royal Naval Armaments Depot who provide care and maintenance services for the weapons systems on the nuclear armed submarine fleet will start an overtime ban from tomorrow (Tuesday, November 16).

The Unite union has severely criticised what it has called the "delay tactics" employed by the ABL Alliance - awarded a contract by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to provide services for the weapon system at Coulport, as well as the Strategic Weapon Support Building (SWSB) Faslane - following 90.5 per cent of its members at Coulport voting ‘yes’ in support of strike action, and 95.3 per cent supporting action short of a strike.

The union also says that to date, the ABL Alliance employers have refused to meet the RPI inflation pay claim (3.8 per cent - July) made by Unite.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The attitude adopted by the ABL Alliance has been disingenuous and they have deliberately frustrated the process in an effort to prevent our members getting a decent and fair pay.

"Our members will have our full support in their battle for justice in the workplace.”

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It is understood that due to the specialist nature of the services provided even an overtime ban could potentially ‘cripple’ the effective running of operations at the naval bases.

Stevie Deans, Unite regional coordinator, added: “The ABL Alliance employers have continued to use delay tactics over six weeks since our members voted for industrial action.

"Instead of using this period to find a positive resolution to the dispute, the ABL Alliance have dangled the promise of new offers in front of our members, and then blamed other parties including the Treasury for absolutely nothing concrete coming forward.

"It’s part of a charade to spin this out and our members won’t tolerate this anymore.

"A continuous overtime ban is now set to start, and if this doesn’t knock some sense into the companies then all options remain on the table for us including strike action.”

The Unite membership involved in the dispute are employed by three separate employers: AWE plc, Babcock Marine (Clyde) Ltd, and Lockheed Martin UK Strategic Systems Ltd.

AWE workers are involved mainly in the maintenance side of the weapon system operation, whereas the Lockheed Martin workers are responsible for specialist engineering and quality control. Babcock workers provide the jetty services at RNAD Coulport.

A spokesperson for Awe plc, on behalf of the ABL Alliance, said: "Unfortunately, at this time the ABL Alliance has been unable to reach a satisfactory resolution with Unite Scotland.

"We continue to keep dialogue open with the union and in the interim, measures to mitigate the impact of industrial action are being implemented.

"We are working closely with the Ministry of Defence to support continued safe operations at RNAD Coulport."