SPECULATION over the future of the troubled Rosyth Royal Dockyard is mounting as rumours suggest that up to 1300 workers may be on the verge of losing their jobs, it was revealed yesterday.
Concern is so acute in the Fife naval base that local MP Rachel Squire organised a meeting with Defence Secretary George Robertson, trade unions, and Rosyth management last week in an attempt to clarify the situation.
The rumours centre on a contract to refit an S-class, Spartan submarine. The contract was promised to the dockyard by Michael Portillo, then Defence Secretary, in November 1996 to compensate for their controversial decision in 1993 to award the refitting of Trident to the Devonport dockyards.
The Spartan programme, which is expected to last three to four years, would have acted as a bridge to the beleaguered Fife base in its transition from a purely naval dockyard to a more commercial enterprise dealing with trains, oil rigs and defence diversification work.
Mr Brian Megus, chair of Industrial Trade Unions, said: ''If this programme of work was withdrawn, it would be devastating to the workforce. There are 1200 to 1300 men working in the complex who will be made redundant if this happens, and even if the Government gives us replacement work, there are many specialist workers who need training before they can work on anything other than submarines.''
The consortium, Babcock, which bought the yard did so on the understanding that a programme of submarine and surface ship refits would be provided by the Government until 2001.
Mr Mark Willbourn, marketing manager for Babcock, would not comment on the rumours, but admitted that any alternative work provided by the Government would be scant comfort for specialist workers who had been relying on the Spartan programme to give them time to retrain.
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