GOVERNMENT BACKS OFFSHORE SOCIAL DUMPING

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: may 2019 :: RMTnews 11 R MT slammed the government’s decision last month to grant another waiver from immigration rules for offshore wind companies to import non-EEA seafarers to work on vessels that construct and maintain offshore wind farms on the UK Continental Shelf. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that the betrayal of UK seafarers and exploitation of foreign seafarers continued under this failing government. “This immigration waiver has now been in place since October 2016, in which time hundreds more offshore wind turbines have been connected to the grid using exploited crews. “The construction and installation of wind farms are where most jobs are created yet the Home Office have decided to issue another waiver, the fourth by our count, to allow wind energy companies to profit from importing cheap labour to build and maintain wind farms in UK waters for another year. “Last month’s ‘Offshore Wind Sector Deal’ committed the government to increase the ‘UK content’ of offshore wind projects yet this waiver actively excludes UK seafarers from jobs in the growing offshore wind supply chain, just ahead of the next round of energy pricing for new offshore wind farm projects. “The further delay in extending the National Minimum Wage Act to provide some protection for seafarer pay in the offshore energy supply chain is also exposed by this scandalous contempt for British Ratings’ jobs. “What we should be seeing is standardisation of employment practices in the offshore wind industry and the supply chain to stamp out seafarer exploitation. It is totally unacceptable for this sustainable energy source to be developed on the backs of exploited workers who lack basic employment rights or protections,” he said. T ransport secretary Chris Grayling was under fresh pressure to resign last month after the government stacked up over a £50 million pound loss for cancelling contracts for extra ferries to bring in essential supplies in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The decision to award the contracts has been a major political embarrassment after it emerged the government handed out a £14 million pound contract for extra ferries to a company that owned no boats and published terms and conditions on its website that appeared to be for a takeaway food business. Then, the government was forced to pay a further £33 million pounds to settle a lawsuit brought by Eurotunnel, which complained that it was unfairly prevented from bidding on the ferry contracts, which were negotiated in secret. Labour’s transport spokesman Andy McDonald said that Grayling and the ferry contracts would evermore be a case study in ministerial incompetence. “His career as a minister has left a trail of scorched earth and billions of pounds of public money wasted. This country cannot afford Chris Grayling,” he said. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that the Brexit ferry chaos had moved from farce to national scandal with the taxpayer picking up the bill. “If he had listened to the maritime unions none of this would have happened. "The £56 million wasted could have been used to create proper jobs for British seafarers and pay the Royal Fleet Auxiliary workforce a decent wage. "Grayling has reduced the shipping industry in this island nation to a global laughing stock and anyone with a shred of decency would have resigned long ago off the back of his catalogue of failures,” he said. GOVERNMENT BACKS OFFSHORE SOCIAL DUMPING GRAYLING TOLD TO GO AFTER BREXIT FERRY FARCE