SAVE OUR SEAFARERS

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: february 2020 :: RMTnews 10 RMT took its SOS2020 seafarers’ campaign to the National Assembly for Wales (Senedd) in Cardiff Bay last month to address the employment, equality and immigration law loopholes driving a decline in jobs and training for Welsh and UK seafarers. The union had already raised the alarm following another case of seafarer pay abuse on a Cyprus registered freighter working on a domestic route in Cardiff, uncovered following an inspection of the ship requested by the union. An inspection of the MV Maris carried out recently by the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) found Filipino ratings employed on a contract for up to ten months for basic pay of $2.12 per hour. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that the new decade had started with another example of the shipping industry’s long-standing exploitation of foreign seafarers between ports in Wales, England and Northern Ireland. “Paying seafarers $2.12 per hour for the first eight hours of work is not only scandalous, it damages the economy of Wales and the UK. “My union is lobbying the Senedd in Cardiff for pro- seafarer actions and we will be highlighting the appalling case of the MV Maris. “It is also very troubling to see that this ship of shame is on the Cyprus maritime register, a flag of convenience that attracts shipowners by holding crew wages down to levels akin to modern slavery. “We’re looking forward to working with the government of Wales to stamp out this appalling abuse of seafarers’ rights which undermines good maritime employers and excludes Welsh seafarers from work in the maritime transport sector,” he said. RMT’s SOS 2020 campaign was launched in 2016 in response to the ongoing failure of successive governments to address these issues. In the 1980s there were over 30,000 UK ratings in the shipping industry. That number has fallen to just over 9,000, with an average age of 48 years despite there being more ratings jobs in total and growth in the demand for seafarers forecast to continue. The shipping industry makes the largest direct contribution to jobs and the economy of all the maritime sectors in Wales. In 2017, this amounted to nearly 1,400 jobs and £127 million respectively. Welsh seafarers are part of the 9,140 UK ratings workforce in the UK shipping industry recorded in June 2019 and who are aging. However, over 31,000 non-EEA Ratings, comprising 65 per cent of total ratings jobs are employed in the UK shipping industry. The vast majority of European Economic Area (EEA) and non-EEA Ratings working in the UK shipping industry are paid a basic rate below the UK National Living Wage of £8.21 per hour for over 25s. Shipping companies use loopholes in domestic laws governing the shipping industry to exploit seafarers; specifically, a lack of application and enforcement of the National Minimum Wage, a failure to protect foreign seafarers from nationality-based pay discrimination and the uneven application of immigration and work permit rules. As a result, regular ferry, coastal freight and offshore support vessels from Welsh ports, are crewed with seafarers from outside Wales and the UK who are paid below the legal minimum on land, as well as lacking holiday, sick pay and pension rights on contracts which require them to work at sea for months on end with little access to shore leave when in port. This is a common practice across the UK shipping industry. The main culprit in Wales is Irish Ferries, who do not recognise trade unions on their Holyhead-Dublin or Pembroke- Rosslare roll-on roll-off fleet. For example, a Latvian Ordinary Seaman is paid a basic rate of €5.51 (under £5) per hour on the MV Ulysses. Despite this, Irish Ferries is one of the companies recognised in the UK government’s £86 million Freight Capacity Framework Agreement. Although it has yet to carry out any publicly funded work under this contract, it is in place until 2023. The ports industry also employs over 800 workers in Wales and there is clear evidence of the need for sustained investment in skills, services and ports facilities if workers and the economy in Wales are to benefit from growth in key areas such as maritime trade and transport, as well as offshore wind developments. Major ports in Wales moved over 49 million tonnes of freight in 2018, a 4.7 per cent fall on the previous year and the lowest for decades. Over 2.5 million passengers, mainly between Dublin and Holyhead were also transported by ferry from Welsh ports in 2018, a very slight reduction on the previous year. RMT received good support on the day from AMs, including Finance Minister Rebecca Evans SOS: Rebecca Evans AM and Mick Cash SAVE OUR SEAFARERS Union holds protest and lobby of Welsh Parliament for policies to increase seafarer and dock jobs in Wales