PRESIDENTS COLUMN

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: may 2016 :: RMTnews 27 President’s column Offshore members working in the North Sea have seen their terms and conditions coming under attack like never before. Unscrupulous bosses are taking advantage of the current lower oil prices by using this as an opportunity to rewrite agreements that were fought for over many years. The 3:3 IS NOT FOR ME campaign has really highlighted the true relationship between the employers and employees. Workers being forced to stay offshore for weeks longer, just so the bosses can save money on transportation and cut staffing levels. A culture of fear is becoming the norm with many too scared to raise concerns, including health and safety issues. Thousands of fellow workers are being kicked out of their industry every week, the adage of “Safety before Profit” needs to be remembered more than ever. Recently, we had yet another tragedy involving the Airbus 225 Super Puma when 13 more workers lost their lives in the North Sea. The previous tragedies with the same Airbus Super Puma have left members with no confidence in these aircraft at all. Currently David Winder is running an online petition to the Civil Aviation Authority demanding the removal of all Airbus 225 Super Pumas NOW! Nearly 27,000 have already signed up, but the response from the CAA is to inform all that this can only be decided at a European level…maybe that will change after June 23? I also attended the Docks and Shipping biannual general meeting, marking the 50 year anniversary of the Seaman’s strike. The Turning the Tide booklet covers the very interesting history surrounding the 1966 dispute and what really struck me was what little progress we have made since then. Merchant Shipping was exempt from the 1976 Race Relations Act and this hasn’t changed under the Equality Act 2010 today. Today we have Ukrainian seafarers sailing between Portsmouth and the Channel Islands who are paid £2.40 an hour. This type of situation is being repeated right around our island and we are told that is this is totally legal. We need to take control to stop this exploitation and “social dumping” of non- domicile labour. This will be my last column before we vote in the EU referendum so here are some reasons for voting Leave: European Union rail policies further entrench rail privatisation and fragmentation. That will mean more attacks or jobs and conditions and EU law will make it impossible to bring all of rail back into public ownership. The EU has promoted undercutting and social dumping leading to the decimation of UK seafarers. The same is now happening in the offshore sector. EU directives also require the tendering our public ferry services. It’s a myth that the EU is in favour of workers. In fact the EU is attacking trade union rights, collective bargaining, job protections and wages. EU courts have ruled that employers’ rights to ‘establishment’ overrule employment rights, allowing companies to bring in cheap labour in order to increase their profits by supressing wages. The EU is forcing member states which have received EU “bailouts” to remove workers’ rights and now France is doing the bidding of the European Commission by removing basic workers’ rights enshrined in the constitution. However workers are fighting back everywhere and a Leave vote is part of that struggle. We need to leave the EU to end austerity. The EU has used the economic crisis to impose austerity and privatisation on member states. Instead of protecting jobs and investment, EU austerity is driving UK austerity, that’s why Tories like David Cameron support staying in. We must to stop the attack on our NHS. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) trade agreement being negotiated between the EU Commission and the United States will promote big business at the expense government protections and public service organisations including our NHS! Environmental regulations, employment rights, food safety, privacy laws and many other safeguards will also be secondary to the right of corporations to make even bigger profits by suing states and their elected governments. Vote Leave on June 23. “The world suffers a lot. Not because of the violence of bad people. But because of the silence of the good people.” Napoleon Bonaparte In Solidarity Sean Hoyle EU attacks: French protesters march this month against the use of the French constitution's Article 49,3, allowing the government to bypass parliament and force through controversial anti-worker laws. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH