§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Defence what action he took as a result of the threat of a two-day stoppage in November 1982 by the crew of the RFA Fort Austin
§ Mr. BlakerIt is doing the crew of the RFA Fort Austin an injustice to suggest that they threatened industrial action in November 1982. In the incident referred to, a member of the crew, apparently at the instigation of a National Union of Seaman official visiting the ship, asked the master to clarify the ship's operational status, with a view to calling a stoppage over the exclusion of RFA crews from the National Maritime Board agreement on the Falklands compensatory payment. The master made it clear that the vessel was on operational duties and no industrial action took place, at that time or subsequently.
I do not accept that the action taken by this crew member reflected the views of the crew as a whole, who remained in good heart throughout the voyage. Indeed a large majority of them subsequently expressed in writing their confidence in the master and his running of the ship, and their concern at unwarranted media reports of industrial action on board.