ACTION ON SEAFARERS’ RIGHTS

Parliamentary column www.rmt.org.uk :: march 2008 :: RMTnews 9 Together with my colleagues in the RMT parliamentary group, I’ve been lobbying Ministers to take action on seafarer’s employment rights and low pay. During my seagoing days there was no National Minimum Wage and in those days many ship owners ruthlessly exploited British and non-domiciled seafarers. It’s a scandal that all these years later, with Labour’s minimum wage in place that non-doms are still being paid a pittance – even when they sail on UK ships in UK waters. That’s why one of our key campaigns has been fighting for seafarers of all nationalities to receive the National Minimum Wage in these circumstances. Eight years ago the Low Pay Commission recommended that action be taken to secure greater protection for non-domicile seafarers and in 2003 we thought we had made a breakthrough when the then shipping Minister said in a parliamentary debate that once seafarers are within UK waters, they would be covered by the national minimum wage. The UK has jurisdiction over UK territorial waters which extend for twelve miles but civil servants have interpreted the Minister’s statement to mean that non domicile seafarer’s entitlement to the minimum wages only applies on UK registered ships when they are in port or in internal UK waters, as opposed to UK territorial waters. Bizarrely, this interpretation means that places like the sea between Scotland and the Hebrides, the Firth of Forth, the Wash the Thames Estuary and the Solent are all excluded from protection while waters between Scotland and the Shetlands, between the mainland and the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man are not! This extremely narrow interpretation of the legislation has led to the continued super exploitation of non-domicile seafarers on UK ships and in UK waters. We have had countless meetings with Ministers to address this issue but despite an admission that this lack of protection is immoral no progress has been made. Well now there is a golden opportunity to right this wrong. The Employment Bill, currently before Parliament, deals with the application and enforcement of the minimum wage. In consultation with the union, the Parliamentary group has drafted amendments to the Employment Bill which would have the effect of ensuring the minimum wage applied in UK territorial waters and to UK registered ships. As RMT News goes to press, my Labour colleagues Baroness Turner and Lord Rosser have tabled these amendments to the Employment Bill in the House of Lords. When the Bill reaches the House of Commons we will be pursuing similar amendments to put pressure on the Government to take action. I have also tabled Early Day Motion 1006 which highlights the fact that the lack of protection for seafarers “has contributed to poverty wages and widespread exploitation of non- domiciled seafarers on UK ships and in UK territorial waters”. As the Employment Bill progresses through Parliament we will, as always, be faced with predictable scaremongering from the shipping bosses that legislation to protect seafarers will threaten the future of the industry. Aside from the fact that big business always seem to oppose any legislation that threatens their profits, the ship owners have provided absolutely no evidence to justify their position. Indeed, as my motion in Parliament also makes clear – other legislation, such as the Corporate Manslaughter Act, applies to all ships in UK territorial waters and UK-flagged ships around the world. There is absolutely no reason why the government cannot act now to end the type of exploitation that see ferries operating in British waters paying foreign seafarers as little as £1.50 an hour. As well as being fundamentally wrong, it allows shipowners to undermine the employment prospects of British seafarers. Working with the union, members of the RMT parliamentary group are determined to right this wrong. Gywn Prosser, MP for Dover and Deal ACTION ON SEAFARERS’ RIGHTS