SAVE OUR SEAFARERS

The latest SOS2020 campaign event took place in Poole this month orchestrated to coincide with an EU event at the lighthouse centre which attracted anyone who was anything to do with shipping in Europe to attend, focussing on maritime employment. What better a place than to bring our campaign which really does focus on the employment of our seafarers and ask those attending this big event some questions? What is the future of maritime employment and where is it? There are over 500,000 jobs on EU tonnage ships, yet less than 40 per cent of those jobs are occupied by EU seafarers. The picture is even worse in the UK sector, where social dumping and modern day slavery is rampant and so obvious. That's why we took the opportunity to take all of those members and other trade union colleagues who had earlier also lobbied Condor Ferries. We took the fight right to their office door and the terminal withour placards, leaflets and banners. We knocked on their door and rang their bell but they wouldn't answer, why ? Because they are as bad as the likes of Seatruck, Streamline and others who exploit the work of their seafarers, with shameful rates of pay, which when we last checked we're more than 50 per cent less than the UK minimum wage. But they did send in Port Security to move us from their office doorway and away from their terminal. We didn't go and we had no intention to move as we wanted to see the main people at Condor and look them in the eye and make our accusations. Still they refused and called in the police, we still didn't move, they told us we were trespassing but how could we be when clearly it was an open access way to their offices and booking offices? This presented RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: june 2017 :: RMTnews 8 SOS: Protest at Aberdeen Harbour against Streamline Shipping earlier this month stepping up the pressure on shipping companies who charter vessels with crew working on board for rates of pay below the legal UK minimum wage. SAVE OUR SEAFARERS RMT national secretary Steve Todd reports on the union’s SOS2020 campaign to end exploitation of seafarers