TIME TO END SHAME OF POVERTY PAY ON UK SHIPS

RMT helpline 0800 3763706 :: october 2008 :: RMTnews 16 On the day that the minimum wage rose by 21p to £5.73 an hour recently, RMT pointed out that seafarers working on UK registered ships and in UK territorial waters are still being paid wages as low as £1.50 an hour because minimum-wage legislation does not apply to them. Early Day Motion 1006 (opposite) calls for an amendment to the Employment Bill currently going through parliament to close a loophole that allows shipowners to pay workers at wages that would land them in court if they attempted to get away with paying them on dry land. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that when the minimum wage was brought in the union was promised that it would apply to seafarers, but wages are still as low as £1.50 an hour being paid on UK ships in UK territorial waters. Even companies such as Stena Line, who have largely stuck with UK seafarers, also utilise low paid seafarers. Recently, RMT uncovered the case of a Filipino seafaring AB rating working on the Stena Transfer on the Harwich to Rotterdam route earning $1,000, £518 per month. However, of even more concern was the fact that information from fellow members revealed that the seafarer was employed for a period of seven months prior to receipt of a month off. “It is eight years since the Low Pay Commission called for action to protect non-domiciled seafarers on UK ships and in UK waters, yet the abuse goes on. “UK-domiciled seafarers can also be denied the minimum wage on foreign-flagged vessels, even if they only work between UK ports, and that too is a scandal that has to end. “RMT members should be asking their MP to sign Early Day Motion 1006,” he said. This simple amendment to the Employment Bill would ensure that the minimum wage applies to all ships trading between two UK ports or working out of a single UK port, TIME TO END SHAME OF POVERTY PAY ON UK SHIPS Union steps up its call for a change in the law to end the shame of poverty wages being paid to seafarers working on UK ships and in UK waters