SHIPPING NEWS

RMTnews :: december 2005 18 O ver 10,000 people marched through Dublin in November after Irish Ferries announced plans to get rid of 543 seafarers and replace them with exploited labour from Eastern Europe. However, Irish Ferries responded by sending ‘security guards’ onto two of their ships docked in the UK ports. Crews of the Isle of Inishmore and Ulysses barricaded themselves in aboard their vessels, docked respectively in Pembroke and Holyhead, after Irish Ferries attempted to install low-paid, non-unionised replacement crews from Eastern Europe. RMT called for action over the serious threat to safety by the company’s use of ‘security guards’ to raid its own vessels – in breach of international security rules – while berthed in British ports, and the continued denial of access by International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) inspectors to the crews. “The Marine and Coastguard Agency should investigate the company’s reckless actions as a matter of urgency,” said general secretary Bob Crow. PROTEST In an attempt to impose ‘social dumping’, Irish Ferries crews that refuse to take redundancy packages face huge pay cuts and being replaced by foreign agency workers at rates of just around £2 per hour. However, Irish union SIPTU is fighting for the adoption of employment protection legislation by the Irish Parliament Addressing the Dublin rally, SIPTU president Jack O’Connor said this case was not an isolated one. Workers in a range of sectors including construction, contract cleaning and security had been replaced by “vulnerable workers from other countries”. Ireland, along with Britain and Sweden, are the only three EU states that have signed up to the “free movement of labour” as part of the drive towards a single market. Current EU law about minimum wages for foreign workers – known as “posting of workers’ directive” – does not apply to ferry transport. Furthermore, the planned EU directive on services will contain the ‘country of origin’ principle, which will allow foreign workers to be paid low wages. “The proposed EU services directive will undermine wages and conditions across Ireland and Europe,” said Mr O’Connor. Irish Congress of Trade Unions general secretary David Begg challenged Irish Ferries claims that its decision to outsource crewing arrangements was necessary due to competitive pressures. He warned that such a “race to the bottom” in employment conditions will create social tensions and “a misjudged antipathy” towards foreign workers. SHIPPING THOUSANDS MARCH AGAINST OUTSOURCING OF IRISH CREWS