UK transport union blasts ferries chief on crew wage gaps

SWEDEN-headquartered Stena Line is in the firing line once more with the Rail and Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) following its North Sea chief Pim De Lange comments on British seafarers being "quite fat and covered in tattoos" fuelling the union`s ongoing campaign over crew rates.

RMT head Steve Todd said the comments were "appalling, abusive and derogatory" and were retracted by the ferry chief who felt the comment been taken out of a context when the real issue was finding UK nationals who were properly trained, reported London`s International Freighting Weekly.


As shipowners are exempt from UK labour laws, ferry companies like Stena Line`s can pay crew of different nationalities varying wages below the UK minimum wage of GBP5.80 (US$9.10) claiming that its rate of GBP2.20 for Filipino workers on its Stena Britannica, which sails from Harwich to the Hook of Holland.


Stena Line`s is not alone in its employment of crew from different countries. P&O Ferries spokesman said: "We hire French crew on French routes, Spanish crew on Spanish routes and so on. And we pay according to their local market rates."


In a UK Guardian report Mr De Lange emphasised its Dutch and British sailors were hugely valued and there was no drive to recruit in the Philippines. "I hugely value the contribution of our British and Dutch employees, along with our Filipino crew, and as usual we will continue to work together. Our employee mix and pay scales on our new superferry will be the same as previously."