Motion no: 14
Conference is deeply concerned at the impact of Covid-19 on jobs and terms and conditions of employment for seafarers working on Irish Sea routes.
Conference notes that in early April, days into the first lockdown, Stena Line unilaterally scrapped the company sick pay scheme for seafarers and port workers which had been agreed with trade unions, leaving key workers required to self-isolate or actually infected with Covid-19 to rely on statutory sick pay.
Conference supports the RMT’s work to oppose this move in Stena Line and the steps taken to support members and all crew on the Cypriot-registered Stena Edda on the Birkenhead-Belfast route, which saw an outbreak of Covid-19 infections amongst seafarers in December 2020.
Conference is concerned that this case alone demonstrates the invidious position which some employers are placing seafarers and port staff in by hacking back terms and conditions of employment, such as sick pay. No worker should feel pressure to go to work when they do not feel well, at any time but particularly during a pandemic driven by a successfully mutating virus.
Conference supports the RMT’s campaign for measures to tackle seafarer exploitation on domestic and international routes. This is particularly important in the Irish Sea, where operators continue to fly in crews from eastern Europe and across the world to pay them considerably less than a domestic seafarer would be paid for doing the same job.
Conference notes the effect of the pandemic on crew changes in the international shipping industry, which have ensnared 400,000 Ratings and Officers. Thousands of seafarers have been forced to work well beyond the end of their contracts and beyond the end of the minimum legal protection in the Maritime Labour Convention which requires safe passage home, free of charge, for seafarers after a maximum of 11 months working at sea. Thousands of the most exploited, fatigued and isolated seafarers have been working at sea now for over 18 months in some cases.
Conference strongly believes that modern island economies require domestic Ratings, Officers and port workers to operate a diverse range of merchant ships and port services, including in the burgeoning offshore renewables sector.
Conference wholeheartedly supports RMT’s continuing campaigns in the maritime industry to increase the number of domestic seafarers covered by collective bargaining agreements with local trade unions. These include the introduction of cabotage legislation to increase employment on domestic routes and the use of post Brexit equality, employment and immigration laws.
