RMT WINS EU SUPPORT OVER SEAFARERS’ DISCRIMINATORY PAY

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: january 2011 :: RMTnews 10 European Commission representatives have warned the UK government that action will be taken against it if there is no movement at the start of this year to end discriminatory pay against other EU national seafarers. The UK government will be advised that it has two months to take action. Failure to do so will result in enforcement action in the form of a substantial fine. The moves follow a meeting between RMT, TUC and Nautilus International representatives with the Employment commissioner Laszlo Andor and a representative from the Competition Directorate. They were both receptive to the unions’ case following the original RMT-led complaint to the European Commission that was lodged in 2005 on the UK government’s failure to uphold the EU free movement of workers provisions. RMT has been working alongside Nautilus International and the TUC to press for implementation of the Equality Act regulations that were drawn up by the previous government. These regulations will reform the Race Relations Act which at present explicitly permits discrimination against seafarers, including those from other EU member states. The draft regulations came in response to the RMT-led campaign and were originally intended for implementation in October 2010. Recently an independent Department for Transport commissioned review of differential pay found in favour of the RMT case for the abolition of all discriminatory pay on UK ships. Despite this the coalition government did not carry forward the regulations but instead decided to extend the provisions of the Race Relations Act. RMT national secretary Steve Todd said that RMT would use every avenue possible to stop the blatant discrimination and low rates of pay on UK shipping. “The first target should be companies like Merezon that set up a rival freight service to the Isle of Man Steam Packet using low-cost crew from Estonia in a blatant case of social dumping,” he said. In a joint statement the unions said that despite the Race Relations Act being replaced with the Equality Act 2010, protection had still not yet been extended to seafarers on UK ships, which means that some are paid as little as £2 per hour. “The current situation disadvantages both seafarers from countries outside the EU/European Economic Area (EEA), who are paid low wages, and seafarers from UK and other EU/EEA states, who are at risk of being undercut by low-paid workers from other nations. “In fact, just over half of the seafarers on UK ships are from the Philippines, which is not a member of the EEA. “Surely the European Union did not mean to exclude these workers from the protection of the law in cases where they have a significant connection with a member state, yet that is exactly what many UK ship- owners are doing at the moment. “Trade union research shows that many other European member states are obeying the law – why should UK ship- owners be allowed to continue to discriminate on the grounds of nationality?” it said. RMT WINS EU SUPPORT OVER SEAFARERS’ DISCRIMINATORY PAY Any ruling should be used against shipping firms using low-paid crews to undermine companies like the Isle of Man Stream Packet Company STOP SOCIAL DUMPING: RMT national secretary Steve Todd, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber and Nautilus International Mark Dickenson with the Employment commissioner Laszlo Andor and a representative from the Competition Directorate.