RMT says agency rates for seafarers are ‘gut-wrenching betrayal’ of 800 sacked British staff
Seafarers from abroad brought in to replace the 800 sacked British P&O Ferries crew are being paid as little as 1.80 an hour, unions have claimed.
The news emerged as Labour accused the government of doing “absolutely nothing” when it learned of the planned sackings, as a memorandum with the “game plan” of P&O was circulated on Wednesday evening.
The RMT union, which represents many of the staff who were abruptly fired last week by the Dubai-owned company, said Indian ratings brought in by offshore agencies to operate on the Dover-Calais route were being paid $2.38 (1.80) an hour.
It is understood that P&O Ferries disputes the figures, but it declined to discuss the rates or give alternative rates as the crew are employed by a third-party agency.
The RMT general secretary, Mick Lynch, said it was “a shocking exploitation of those seafarers and another gut-wrenching betrayal of those who have been sacked”.
He called for sailings to be halted amid safety concerns over the wholesale replacement of P&O’s long-serving crew with fresh officers and ratings.
Lynch said: “The rule of law and acceptable norms of decent employment and behaviour have completely broken down beneath the white cliffs of Dover and in other ports, yet five days into this national crisis the government has done nothing to stop it.”
In the Commons, the shadow transport secretary, Louise Haigh, said...
Amid a swirl of public speculation and growing concern, the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) has firmly rejected claims that it spent a staggering GH9 million on a turkey berry production project, de...