LESSONS FOR SEAFARERS

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: february 2018 :: RMTnews 15 R MT responded with outrage to confirmation from UK ship owners that new government guidance on seafarers and the National Minimum Wage will do nothing to tackle the low pay rates which are rife in the UK merchant shipping industry. Comments from the UK Chamber of Shipping reported in Maritime Global News dealing with the 'Guide to the application of the Equality Act 2010 and National Minimum Wage for seafarers' reveal that there will be no changes to legal entitlement for those working in UK waters. UK Chamber of Shipping policy director Tim Springett, who specialises in employment issues, said that the guide did not amend the law and there has been no change in the entitlement of any seafarer in respect of the National Minimum Wage or the Equality Act. “It is hoped that the clarification of the current position provided by the guide will be of use to companies and seafarers," he wrote. RMT national secretary Steve Todd said that it was now certain that the government had capitulated to the intense lobbying of wealthy ship owners against the legal changes required to bring seafarers in line with land based workers’ entitlement to National Minimum Wage rates of pay. “The Chamber of Shipping has always opposed enforcing the NMW for exploited foreign seafarers, some of whom are paid as little as £1.75 per hour. “The employers made the same, un-costed arguments in the Legal Working Group on Seafarers and the NMW, on which the UK maritime unions and BEIS were also present. “The BEIS announcement seems designed to scupper the Legal Working Group which had agreed in principle to recommend that the Government change the law to apply and enforce the NMW for seafarers on shipping routes on the UK Continental Shelf, including the offshore oil and gas sector. “This is an act of sabotage which affects UK seafarers’ jobs and our economy. “We cannot have an industry systematically undermining UK employment and anti- discrimination law as we prepare for Brexit. “RMT will step up its campaign to expose the dirty secrets of the shipping industry which profits from discrimination against seafarers on grounds of nationality,” he said. The new guidance was the first of its kind on the application of the National Minimum Wage specifically to seafarers. Advice issued in respect of seafarers has until now been included in general guides and was amended frequently - without consultation with the industry - in ways that led to uncertainty rather than clarity. "The new guide takes account of the UK's obligations under the International Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the generally observed custom under which coastal states do not impose laws on visiting ships that affect the internal economies of those ships," wrote Mr Springett. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that the comments confirmed what the union suspected, the government’s new guidance was just an exercise in caving in to the powerful industry lobby and does nothing to tackle the scandal of the Ships of Shame in British waters. “RMT’s SOS2020 campaign for seafarers’ justice goes on,” he said. TORIES BACK SHIP-OWNERS OVER PAY Government caves in to ship- owners confirming minimum wage and Equality Act is meaningless CAMPAIGN :National Secretary Steve Todd, Regional Organiser Gordon Martin, NEC member Paul Shaw along with Ricky Kelbie from Aberdeen Shipping branch and Brian Reynolds from Glasgow Shipping branch unveil the Union’s Nationalise Northlink banner in advance of public meetings in Orkney and Shetland where the union will be making the positive case for bringing the Northern Isles Ferry Service into public ownership.