Is the RN a puppet

[mariner]

Do you ever get the impression that the RN is a puppet getting its strings pulled by the civvy companies it gives contracts too?
It seems that the RN gives out £million contracts and then bend over back wards to please them.
FSL gains a multi £million contract, then takes over a huge amount of dockyard, then says RN personnel can have limited parking.
Hayden build the new accommodation blocks the force JRs to abide by their rules. LHs don't have any lee way, in the last 2 weeks i have had a whole host of contractors and engineers come into my cabin without my say so. when i complain i get " sorry mate, its civvy run".
NHS, again makes a wedge of money, gains a load of navy nurses then dictates their working pattern.
I also read a thread about Rail Track courses at collingwood, saying that they are unrully and the RN has no way of controlling it.
Oh, and don't even get me started on JPA.

I know this all sound insignificant but surley if this keeps snowballing we won't end up with a navy being run by MOD, it will be a bunch of civvy companies and departments.

 

[sidon55]

First step to privatising the RN ?

 

[PompeySailor]

Not so much a puppet, but we have to exist in a strange world. As a non-profit organisation, with real-time budget cuts removing our finances, we have to buddy up with civilian companies. Unfortunately, when you get a civvy company with a switched on lawyer, and the RN, we tend to get a little bit shafted. We sign contracts that only seem to work one way, but at the end of the day, we need the cash. FSL is the best case in point, closely being followed by the JPA debacle.

Dockyard parking is appalling, especially when you see a civvy company with five car passes and you can't get a temporary to drop your kit at the ship unless you are in possession of your draft order and are willing to leave your first born with the gate monkeys. It's a known problem, but I don't know how they are going to get round it. It has been passed up the chain....

NHS with Navy Nurses - this IS a known problem, and is being looked at now, especially with regard to the loss of "Dark Blue" ethos and the abuse of hours and abilities.

Accommodation blocks - they still have no right of access to cabins - you need to report every single breach to the regulating staff, not to Hayden. Hayden need to realise that a contractor should be booked to visit you, and should be accompanied or supervised. If you pay civilian rate charges, you are entitled to the same rights as civilian accommodation.

 

[mariner]

PompeySailor,
Finally someone who sort of understands my frustrations (i think).
I thought it was just me, everytime i spoke to my mates about it they just didn't seem to care.
I'm all for the navy and want it to be run by the navy. guess i will just have to reside myself to taking a back seat now and then, how ever much it annoys me.

But, while i'm on my soap box:
does anyone else feel that its not the big things that people get annoyed at. its the little things, like the above and this years generous pay rise(!) that keeps chipping away and breaking moral. or is it just people like me dripping about it all?

 

[PompeySailor]

The RN relies on you dripping - it's the dripping that stops the flooding! What tends to happen is that we get fed up with something, people moan about it for a week or so, then forget and get on with the job. Because we have no Federation, or consolidated method of really passing problems upwards (yes, the Div system works, but not always), we can have lots of isolated problems but no way of really expressing how we feel to the people that matter. I guarantee that loads of people are unhappy at how the accom is being run, but because you are unable to all complain together, individual drips simply fade away. It's only through voicing those concerns to a proper body (Reg Office, Base Commander's Office) that you may get some resolution.

People often say that they are going to leave, but at the end of the day, a wage is a wage, so they just bite the bullet and get on with it. The RN still runs on goodwill - knowing the people will put in extra hours, will try a little harder to get something outside the books, will carry out a task for which they are not strictly trained but the RN knows they are capable of doing - and nobody will withdraw this additional work. Look at how many people are members of RN clubs (sporting and social) - are they paid for this work? Are they buggery! But it's the only way the clubs function.

The RN is no longer really run by the RN (if it ever was) - all you can do is speak loudly in the right ears when it gets too much!

 

[janner]

Maybe there would be a place for representation along similar lines to the Police Federation, this represents the rank and file end of the Police Service. It is empowered to speak for the troops but has no power to call for strike action. Many say that it is a toothless body, but in truth it is a way of getting feelings known, without them being watered down by higher ranking Officers. Most federation Reps are of Constable or Sergeant rank.

Things have obviously changed since my time with the RN but then there were no easy ways to get your feelings known, all issues had to be taken up with the Wardroom, few Officers would make waves, especially if was something that affected their Department and may reflect on them. Has it changed that much today?