The government is to consult on planned new legislation to ensure seafarers regularly entering UK ports are paid at least the equivalent of the UK national minimum wage.
Announced in the Queen’s speech on Tuesday (May 10), the Harbours (Seafarers’ Remuneration) Bill comes in the wake of P&O Ferries’ decision to sack almost 800 workers in March and replace them with agency staff on lower wages.
The ferry operator said the minimum rate of hourly pay for its UK ferries is the equivalent of £5.58 an hour. The national minimum wage is currently £9.50 an hour.
The new legislation will ban ferries that don’t pay their workers the equivalent to the minimum wage from docking at UK ports.
When P&O Ferries sacked 800 seafarers, they degraded not only their employees but every single mariner.
As introduced in today’s #QueensSpeech, we’ll bring about fair pay for seafarers working on ferries in UK waters, so P&O Ferries can no longer exploit its staff.
— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) May 10, 2022
Transport secretary Grant Shapps said: “We will stop at nothing to make sure seafarers in UK ports are being paid fairly.
“P&O Ferries’ disgraceful actions do not represent the principles of our world-leading maritime sector and changing the law on seafarer pay protection is a clear signal to everyone that we will not tolerate economic abuse of workers.
“We will protect all seafarers regularly sailing in and out of UK ports and ensure they are not priced out of a job. Ferry operators that regularly call at UK ports will face consequences if they do not pay their workers fairly.”
The government is also in talks with France, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Ireland and Denmark to set up ‘minimum wage corridors’, where seafarers on routes between either country must be paid at least the equivalent of the minimum wage.
More: P&O Ferries resumes Dover-Calais service
P&O refutes claims it is paying some workers ‘less than £4 an hour’
The consultation on the proposed measures opens today and will last four weeks.
It will examine what sort of vessels could be included beyond ferries and what the enforcement measures will be. Options under consideration include surcharges, suspension of port access and fines.
Business minister Paul Scully added: “In contrast to P&O Ferries, which has shown utter contempt for its workforce, this government is firmly committed to ensuring that a fair day’s work gets a fair day’s pay.
“By ensuring that seafarers working on ships that regularly call at UK ports are paid an equivalent to the minimum wage, today’s plans will be a boost for thousands of hard-working staff, while shielding them from any future exploitative actions by rogue businesses.”
Pictured: P&O Ferries and DFDS vessels at Dover, by SeregaSibTravel/Shutterstock.com