P&O Ferries in new row about more wage cuts
P&O Ferries has been accused of trying to cut the wages of its already low-paid workforce.
As reported in MIN, the ferry operator sacked 800 members of staff in a bid to save money and instead replaced them with cheaper agency workers.
New teams say they have been asked to sign new contracts on even lower pay than when they were brought in.
While working on the Spirit of Britain ferry in Dover, a Romanian chef emailed the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT).
The email said: “They don’t care about rights. This is my sixth day working without contract, please help us.
“They try to give us less money. We are desperate.”
The Mirror claims chefs currently paid £2,336 a month on temporary contracts were asked to sign new deals cutting their income by £195. Other crew members earn £748 a month for a 40-hour week – just £4.30 an hour.
The new crew was reportedly hired through Malta-based International Ferry Management.
“Prior to reinspecting the Spirit of Britain yesterday, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency received a complaint via the RMT, that a seafarer had been asked to sign a contract with reduced wages,” says a Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) spokesman.
“As part of the re-inspection the MCA investigated and as a result the affected seafarers were issued with amended contracts, which reverted to their original wages.”
The RMT told The Mirror that P&O Ferries is now ‘trying to bring in an exploitative model, with the lowest possible standards they can get away with.’
On Friday, the RMT went aboard the Spirit of Britain to speak with seafarers after being previously refused access, according to the BBC.
The RMT says it spoke to a number of workers from around the world who have joined the ferry’s crew who shared similar complaints.
National secretary Darren Proctor says P&O Ferries “brought people in on a month contract, some on two-month contracts” and then told them that they have to accept lower pay rates if they want to stay on.
“Others are coming in on four-month contracts on lower pay. P&O is undermining safety and creating a lowest possible denominator in ferry standards,” he says.
The RMT says that P&O is “desperate to keep these new crew on board because they’ve been on board for four weeks now and these crews were beginning to have familiarity with the vessels. They need familiarity to get them sailing again.”
Earlier this week, seven agency crew members were sacked for drinking alcohol while working at Dover.
On Friday, the Spirit of Britain was cleared to resume sailing between Dover and Calais after inspections by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. It had been held at the port since 12 April due to a number of unspecified deficiencies, according to the regulator.
Meanwhile, P&O Cruises continues to distance itself from the similarly named ferry company.
‘Our names may both begin with P&O but that’s where the similarity ends,” says a statement on its website. ‘We are proudly part of Carnival Corporation & PLC and we have been for 20 years with no connection to P&O Ferries.’
