Pay Disparity Dispute at RAF Leeming

That this House is concerned that Babcock Aerospace workers providing operational and engineering services at the RAF Leeming base near Northallerton, North Yorkshire, are presently denied shift payments of around £5,000 per annum awarded to their colleagues undertaking the same safety-critical duties at RAF Valley in Wales; believes that this pay disparity unfairly impacts on the skilled and dedicated workforce; notes that Unite the Union has sought to avoid the need to take industrial action, but the intransigence of Babcock management in refusing to address the disparity in pay has rendered this unavoidable; and therefore calls on the employer to enter into meaningful negotiations with the union to avoid any future disruption to training flights and to ensure that the workers at the base are fairly remunerated.