Gavin Morgan

22 August, 2008

SHETLAND coastguard officers will be the only ones in Britain not taking part in a national 48 hour strike this bank holiday weekend.

The stoppage by 700 members of the Public and Commercial Services union is the next stage in the long running dispute over pay with their employers, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).

A coastguard spokesman in Lerwick said everything would be running “as per normal” this weekend.

The strike, which starts at 7pm tomorrow (Saturday) and finishes at 7pm on Monday, follows five days of action already taken this year.

Shetland officers have only ever worked to rule while their colleagues elsewhere have resorted to all out strikes.

Alex Flynn, of the PCS, said: “The members in Shetland have taken the decision not to go on strike. They support the strike, but they feel that given Shetland’s location the cover that the coastguard agency would put in place would not be adequate enough.

“We are expecting members across the rest of the Scotland’s coastguard stations and the UK to be on strike.”

The PCS warned the British public to avoid taking to the sea for non essential activities over the Bank Holiday.