Royal Fleet Auxiliary to be replaced by "Private workers and vessels"

[CougarKing]

Bad news for the RFA:

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/newshome/Navy-workers39-fears-over-RFA.5803981.jp

Navy workers' fears over RFA jobs

Published Date: 06 November 2009

THOUSANDS of navy workers are fighting for their jobs as the force prepares to cut its auxiliary staff, The News can reveal.

At a special meeting in Portsmouth, shocked employees were told the entire Royal Fleet Auxiliary could be replaced by private workers and vessels.

The RFA flotilla is the lifeline of the navy, delivering fuel, food, stores and ammunition to warships in both peace and wartime.

Workers were told that heavy pressure from the Treasury had forced the Ministry of Defence to show it can cut costs across the board.

The navy believes it can save millions by swapping civil servants and MoD vessels for private alternatives - available more readily during the recession.

But RFA sources say the move is a 'short-term suicide' that would rob the navy of centuries of experience on the front line.

A serving RFA worker, who was at the meeting at navy headquarters on Whale Island in Portsmouth, said: 'It's absolutely shocking. I couldn't believe the scope of what was being outlined.
'We knew that there were tough times ahead, but they told us we've got a couple of months to make a case.

'There are thousands of workers who now have to fight for their jobs in the run-up to Christmas.'

 

[Bass ackwards]

Being a landlubber, I have to ask:
Is there such a thing as a civilian or privately owned AOR ?
Or, for that matter, merchant seamen who are qualified to do the tasks that AORs do ?
Otherwise, it appears to me that what will happen is some private contractor will buy up the surplus ships and hire the experienced (and looking for work) sailors from the RFA and carry on as before.
Qui bono (who benefits) ?
Do we need to loan Sheila Fraser to the UK for a while, or do I just have a suspicious nature ...