NO TO LOW PAY AT FORELAND

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: may/june 2025 :: RMTnews 8 T wo newly elected representatives at City Cruises in London Deen Balnock and Nick Paul met RMT national secretary Darren Procter at Unity House.  The newly elected reps represent cabin staff and pier staff and raised matters of concern and how the union can become better organised within the workplace. R MT members at Foreland Shipping have overwhelming rejected a one year pay deal for 3.9 per cent and they are in dispute with this employer for the first time. This was a fantastic 87 per cent turnout in the ballot and members have demonstrated that they are prepared to stand firm. The referendum result follows revelations over pay, profit and dividends at the company and at its owner, Hadley Shipping Group which gave its top director an eye- watering 52 per cent pay increase in 2023. A seven-year extension of the Ministry of defence contract for £476 million is welcome but the employer has paid out nearly £130 million in dividends and directors’ pay is sky-rocketing whilst Ratings pay has fallen 10 per cent behind inflation in recent years.  RMT General Secretary Eddie Dempsey said that it was a textbook case of profit hoarding and exploitation.  “Foreland Shipping’s owners have raked in massive profits and dividends off the back of a publicly funded MoD contract.  “However, the very seafarers keeping that contract afloat are being left behind.  “For over two decades, shareholders and executives have cashed in while allowing our members’ wages to fall in real terms.  “If the company can afford millions in dividends, it can afford to give our seafarers a decent pay rise,” he said.  The union argues that the situation reflects a wider failure in public-private partnerships, where private interests pocket public money while workers shoulder the strain.  VISIT: RMT national secretary visiting Foreland shipping members onboard the Eddystone to provide an update on pay, terms and conditions and how to better organised within the deep-sea sector whilst listening to members views on many issues. NO TO LOW PAY AT FORELAND NEW CITY CRUISES REPS