17th JULY - OUR FIRST VICTORY
What a week! The week started off with the realisation that Parliament at Westminster would be going into summer recess on Thursday and a new PM announcement scheduled for the 20th July – the clock was ticking.
This week’s update gives an overview of the week as normal, but it is important to stress the HUGE achievement of the last 6 weeks. We set out this campaign to collectively bargain /unionise in order to achieve three aims: 1. an urgent pause. 2. Scrutiny of the proposals. 3. A full risk assessment of the impact.
We won phase 1 🙌
As you will see from the comments from MPs at Westminster the timing of all of this had been purposeful. I.e. that it was being rushed through. MPs spoke to us directly to congratulate us on what we had achieved and to impress upon us that we have done something truly incredible with this campaign. To get the political support that we had, the debate in parliament, the evidence session. To get the press coverage. Huge thanks to everyone involved in the campaign – and especially to the whistleblowers for leaking the MCA’s data to highlight the risk that our coastal communities faced, to Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centres (MRCCs) and our Area Management Teams (AMTs) who came out in support of CROs, to the press, the politicians, the public who all showed their support. To GMB and the huge numbers of CROs who joined GMB, who have campaigned for us (it is through unionising that we got the the legal support, that we got the press, that is how we were able to attend parliament, that is how we got MPs to sign the pledge, that is how whistleblowers were able to be protected through their worker rights and through a union support to be able to release information and come out in support). It is a huge huge achievement!
We now have breathing space – but the campaign is far from over, in many ways it has just started! Here is an update of the week, the campaign team are taking a short break to rest and regroup and next steps will be released next week! 🙂
All Things Campaigning:
We have launched an interactive map so you can see if your MP is supporting the campaign – if they are great! Keep contacting them, ask them what they are going to do over the summer to support, you can also ask if they have signed Early Day Motion 333 (Get Involved Page) so it is on the political agenda after summer. The map, template letters and more info all here: https://sos-crs.co.uk/get-involved/
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Has MY MP Pledged Support?
Over 115 MPs of all parties, all around the UK have already signed the pledge in support of the campaign, committing to saving our vital Coastguard Rescue Service. We need more representatives to join the fight. You can pressure your MP to show their support by using the pre-written letter template here.
Constituency:
Thinking ahead for the summer we need to keep up the pressure – local areas are planning action days:
The Mayor at Withernsea is planning a walk through the town with banners and posters and a 1 minute clap for CROs
On Sunday 19th July CROs will be marching with GMB at the Tolpuddle Martyrs event with the ‘Support Our Coastguard Rescue Officers’ banner
On Monday 20th July CROs from Devon and Cornwall alongside GMB reps will be walking the Tamar Bridge – CROs are meeting on their respective sides and will meet in the middle in an act of solidarity.
We are also discussing sending the banners around areas, perhaps even around the country in order to generate local and national press AND it gets you meeting people across your area. We have to start working collectively and linking in with each other.
In-person events build energy – and that’s what we will all need for the summer!
Some other things to have on your radar – we need to keep building the campaign – ways to do this is to ask your trade union to come out in support. You could write to other influential Bodies /people. With summer approaching – think of the impact on leisure and tourism and speak to organisations/businesses who might be impacted and ask them to come out in support. We also really do need to keep building union membership – 710 members is HUGE in the timeframe – but our timeframe is short. And we need to ensure that we get a pause AND the MCA does actively engage with GMB. The more members the harder we are to ignore! They did not think we could do this, and we did 💪 but let’s be honest, they still have their heads in the sand about all this, and I think they hope this will all die down and we will go away – but that’s not going to happen, and we need to shout this loudly!
Information coming to light:
Pensions & Pay – we received some information about our pensions and back pay this week – it appears that we will be paid for all activity on Isar “having been deemed as workers by the Court of Appeal you will be paid for all voluntary work that you have not been remunerated for already, up to a maximum of 6 years”. This implies our on-station training and other activities – local knowledge patrols, water safety events etc might be covered. If this is all classed as ‘work’ I think it would be important to pause and reflect when our backpay offers come in just how many hours we are expected to give to the CRO role, and how sustainable that would be for anyone in the future to give up that much time for free.
The pension scheme we are being offered will be administered by Legal & General – the scheme required MCA to contribute 3% and individuals to contribute 5%. ← civil servants typically receive 25-28% contribution from their employer (pensions are deferred wages, this is one of the reasons why civil servant take home wages are typically lower than the private sector). You might want to question why, as government employees, and as emergency responders with the same Cat 1 response as Fire/Police/Ambulance, our pension should be much, much, lower.
Other models to consider:
The Isle of Man model – the following information about the IoM CROs has come to light – it has all been forwarded to GMB:
Isle of Man CRO’s are on worker contracts & have been for about 2 years. They get a retainer of £27 per month, then an hourly rate set at the living wage, about £12.30 per hour. Callout is a minimum of 3 hrs same as us. When they switched to worker contracts they got 8.33% per month holiday allowance (pay in lieu of annual leave). Need to attend 75% of training (appears to be some flexibility with this – I imagine there’s ways when negotiating this of taking holiday allowance for station training, for example).
The Isle of Man model – the following information about the IoM CROs has come to light – it has all been forwarded to GMB:
Isle of Man CRO’s are on worker contracts & have been for about 2 years. They get a retainer of £27 per month, then an hourly rate set at the living wage, about £12.30 per hour. Callout is a minimum of 3 hrs same as us. When they switched to worker contracts they got 8.33% per month holiday allowance (pay in lieu of annual leave). Need to attend 75% of training (appears to be some flexibility with this – I imagine there’s ways when negotiating this of taking holiday allowance for station training, for example).
SUPPORT
On Wednesday a Letter of Support for CROs from our Area Management Teams was published: Read the Letter of Support Here
Political Action:
Alistair Carmichael MSP tabled a question for Prime Minister’s Questions:
“In my constituency, those who volunteer as Coast Guard rescue officers also do so from a wish to give service to their community. So in the time that remains for him in office, Will the Prime Minister ensure that the money paid to them properly reflects the respect that they earn for their service?”
Prime Minister’s Answer:
“Can I thank him for this really important question? I’ll start by wishing him a very happy birthday. But this is really important, and I want to pay tribute to every volunteer. They show incredible bravery, putting their lives at risk to save others. Our guiding principle is making sure we respond to this complex case by properly recognising their vital work. Ministers will continue to work with all parties, the Coast Guard Rescue Service, and volunteers to respond to their concerns and to get this right. And he’s very— he’s absolutely right to raise this very important issue. We’ll be on it.”
Wednesday 15 July 2026 5-7pm All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Coastal Communities, in collaboration with the APPG for Volunteer Search & Rescue, held an evidence session on the public safety implications of the proposed changes to HM Coastguard Rescue Officer remuneration at the House of Commons.
Update from the meeting: Today 12 CROs from across the UK attended the Joint APPG Evidence Session on HM Coastguard Rescue Officer Remuneration Changes. A number of MPs were there in support key points the chair wanted me to stress to you all: Across Government. All parties are behind us. The government has brought in Employment Rights Act, because they believe in protecting workers and they aren’t going to turn around and say ‘but not you!’
They also said they were worried that the timing of all this had been purposeful – it was stressed strongly by us CROs that the ‘pause’ was not actually meaningful to us. And we need something concrete ASAP. A recess is days away. September is too late. They promised they will get an urgent response for us.
Thursday am 📣 PAUSE ANNOUNCED AND FULL WRITTEN STATEMENT FROM THE MINISTER: Read the Ministerial Written Statement Here
PRESS:
Wednesday: more coverage in the Daily Express ‘Brave Coastguard heroes forced out by arrogant bosses’ (Express Article) and The Telegraph (Telegraph Article).
Coverage on Good Morning Britain and GB News. Local press coverage: Bridlington Echo.
Thursday & Friday – all national and local press covering the announcement of the Minister’s statement and the pause. Featured on BBC and ITV TV news, BBC radio, and national newspapers:
BBC News Article | STV News Article | The Guardian Article
Calls for a Parliamentary Inquiry: The Scarborough News
A teams meeting on Thursday evening took place with much to celebrate, a welcome sigh of relief, and some planning ahead of next steps with the GMB!
