‘Poverty' wages: ‘Shocking exploitation’ of Indian workers on high seas

Indian seafarers hired to replace sacked P&O Ferries crews are being paid just $2.38 an hour, according to a union. The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT), which represented many of the 800 staff fired without notice last week, said their replacements are being paid well below 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 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.”

The minimum wage in the UK for people aged 23 and above is £8.91 per hour. But companies using UK ports often register ships in other countries, allowing them to pay lower wages.

Replacement with cheap labour

After suspending and firing 800 British nationals on March 17, ferry company P&O has been replacing them with cheap labour. As quoted by media reports, 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.”

P&O Ferries hit back at claims by unions that its decision to replace staff with agency workers puts the safety of ships at risk. A spokesman for the company said: “Safety is the utmost priority for P&O Ferries and our crewing management partners. They have recruited high-quality experienced seafarers, who will now familiarise themselves with the ships, going through all mandatory training requirements set out by our regulators.

“Safety is paramount in our new crewing management model, which is used by many of our competitors and has been proven to be the most successful model in this industry and the competitive baseline. We will not be reducing crewing numbers. We don’t have a business if we don’t have a safe business.”

Agency denies prior knowledge

According to the BBC, a recruitment agency which supplied P&O Ferries with workers to replace sacked staff has denied any prior knowledge of new workers hired by Clyde Marine Recruitment soon arrived at Cairnryan port in Dumfries and Galloway.

But the company insisted it had unwittingly hired replacements – and denied they were cheap labour.