Replacements for P&O Ferries crew paid £1.80 an hour, unions say

theguardian.com:

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, according to unions.

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.

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. The government has to step in now and take control before it’s too late.”

A P&O Ferries spokesperson said the company had recruited “high-quality experienced seafarers, who will now familiarise themselves with the ships, going through all mandatory training requirements set out by our regulators.”

He added: “Safety is paramount in our new crewing management model.”

The standard minimum wage in Britain is £8.91 an hour. However, it is understood that maritime operators are not liable to UK regulation when they are sailing internationally and are flagged outside the UK. After Brexit, P&O Ferries reflagged some of its UK-registered ships to locations