Republican News · Thursday 26 June 2003

Slave wages for ferry workers

BY JOANNE CORCORAN

A car ferry company operating between Cork and Swansea has come to the attention of the International Transport Workers' Federation for paying its employees as little as $2.70 an hour for an average 75-hour week.

Swansea Cork Ferries Ltd is an Irish-owned and operated company, but is registered in St Vincent's and Grenadines. It is what the ITF call a 'flag of convenience' ship. The flag of convenience system is one that allows ship owners to minimise their compliance with international shipping regulations. This can be achieved when owners register their vessels in countries other than their own, in order to avoid that country's binding regulations and controls.

There are approximately 65 foreign workers employed on the ship, according to Tony Ayton, the ITF representative with overall responsibility for Ireland. Most of the workers are from Poland, with the rest from the Ukraine and the Cape Verde Islands. About five Irish people work on the boat and most of the officers are from Greece.

Early last year, a number of the crew members from the ship contacted trade unions in Ireland, Poland, Britain and the Ukraine, on a confidential basis, complaining about very low pay and long working hours.

Documents given to the unions showed that the lowest paid person on the ship was paid only $2.70 an hour for an average 75-hour week, and the average pay of non-officer grades was about $3.50 per hour (International seafarers' wages are always calculated in US dollars). The average rate of pay per hour for ferry companies working between Britain and Ireland is §11.

"The crew complained to us that the company kept them in a state of fear of losing their jobs, by keeping them employed on a temporary basis," Tony says. "Their contract of employment automatically ends after between seven and ten months, with no right to re-employment."

Trade Unions affiliated to the ITF immediately began discussions with the company to try and address the situation. The company was not in a strong financial position, but the management initially cooperated with the union. A plan was proposed to raise wages up to the national minimum wages of Britain and Ireland, over four years.

"While even this would fall far short of the average wages enjoyed by crew members on similar vessels, it was still substantial progress," Tony adds.

"It did not threaten the viability of the company, or the continuation of the ferry service, which makes an important contribution to the economy of south-west Ireland."

However, at the last moment and just as the agreement was to be signed off, the company changed its mind without warning, and refused to cooperate any further with the ITF.

"The company unilaterally implemented its own wage increases in November 2002," Tony mentions. "But it will not say whether it is planning to follow through with the proposals to raise the wages to minimum standards.

"The workers still want to get the further three increases over the next few years to bring them up to about the British and Irish minimum wage level, as was set out in the trade union/ITF plan," he says.

"They also said they wanted to be represented by the ITF, which have professional officers trained and experienced in dealing with company financial accountancy practices."

On behalf of the multinational crewmembers, the ITF has called on all TDs to become actively involved in the matter.