The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) has blasted P&O Ferries as they have claimed that the 800 British workers who were sacked last week have been replaced by Indian seafarers earning “less than £2 an hour.”
This is well below the legal limit which is £8.91 per hour for those aged 23 and above, which is the minimum wage in the UK.
General secretary Mick Lynch said, “The news that the seafarers now on ships in British ports are to be paid 2.38 dollars an hour is a shocking exploitation of those seafarers and another gut-wrenching betrayal of those who have been sacked.
“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.
“These ships of shame must not be allowed to sail. The government has to step in now and take control before it’s too late.”
However companies often register their ships in other countries which allows them to dodge UK law to pay lower wages and still be legally allowed to access British ports.
Some P&O Ferries are actually flagged in Cyprus which as Lynch said, can lead to a “shocking exploitation of those seafarers.”
Labour have demanded on Monday for an emergency vote in the House of Commons for the government to take action ann “ban this fire and re-hire” of staff within companies.
Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer said, “What I want to see is those workers reinstated to their jobs, as they should never (have) been dismissed from them.
“I want to see the Government take action here to ban this fire and rehire, which is the cause of this in the first place.
“There’s a vote on that this afternoon. So, what I don’t want to hear is ministers, Government ministers, complaining about what P&O have done.
“Now they’ve got the chance to do something about it, vote this afternoon for reinstatement and banning fire and rehire.”
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