INSPECTING FLAGS OF CONVENIENCE

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: june 2014 :: RMTnews 24 RMT recently took part in a joint ship inspection exercise with the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) on board North Sea supply vessels working out of Aberdeen, concentrating mainly on vessels who were sailing under flags of convenience (FoC). RMT participants included myself, regional organisers Jake Molloy and Gordon Martin and Donald Graham from the organising unit. We were joined by six ITF inspectors Ken Fleming, Tom Molloy; Paul Keenan; Gerry Flanagan; Liam Wilson and Darren Procter. Once we all had security clearance for access to the harbour to board the vessels ITF held a briefing about our roles, responsibilities, powers and functions. I visited a number of FoC vessels with foreign crews. On inspection we found that many had no ITF agreement in place but after negotiations with the owners of the vessel all relevant agreements were signed off. Although the exercise was set up primarily to target North Sea Supply Vessels, I was eager to inspect a British-flagged freight vessel that was sailing between Aberdeen and Lerwick and rumoured to be carrying Latvian crew that were being paid much lower than the minimum wage and on inferior conditions to other vessels in the same company. Next day a group headed to Montrose and we targeted a Dive Support Vessel m/v Bibby Chey in Aberdeen, part of the Bibbys fleet, where we were welcomed by the captain who afforded us the chance to engage with the diving crew who were RMT members. All ships visited on this exercise were accommodating and hospitable apart from one Captain who did not want us on his ship and his attitude was bordering on belligerent. Ultimately jobs in the Merchant Navy have declined dramatically since 1980 when there was 30,000 British Ratings working on ships all over the world. Today ratings jobs in the British Merchant Navy is around 8,500, this is another drop of 30 per cent since 2011 and this is why Bob Crow asked for this exercise with the ITF to take place. He realised that if we do not do something now for shipping it will be too late to reverse the trend of social dumping in the maritime industry. The North Sea offshore Industry is awash with vessels that are FoC which is unacceptable, but even more unacceptable is the ships that sail our waters under the Red Ensign and yet do not employ British seafarers. Even the ferry industry is under attack as we discovered a Freight Ferry sailing from Aberdeen to Lerwick, two Scottish Ports, crewed by Estonians earning £3.46 an hour for the time they are on the vessel only, and this concerns me deeply as this disease of social dumping is on the doorstep of our Scottish Passenger Lifeline Ferry Service, cancerous in the aspect of eating away at our island communities and endangering the future of employment within the Highlands and Islands. We need a strategy to reclaim these jobs and influence MPs and government to change legislation that allows the unscrupulous ship owners to use loopholes in law that lets them use and abuse cheap foreign labour and avoid paying tax. INSPECTING FLAGS OF CONVENIENCE Glasgow Shipping branch secretary Graham Wallace reports on a recent shipping inspection exercise in Aberdeen