Pay For Seafarers In The UK Maritime Sector

EDM number 2380 in 2007-08, proposed by Anne Begg on 29/10/2008.
Categorised under the topics of Companies, Employment, Incomes and poverty, Industry, Pay and Shipping.

That this House is appalled that in the 21st century ships, including ferry services, which regularly trade on fixed routes between UK ports and between the UK and Europe are allowed to pay poverty wages substantially below the minimum wage to non-UK seafarers including as little as £295 basic monthly pay; notes with the utmost concern that examples of routes on which seafarers are being paid less than the national minimum wage include Aberdeen to the Shetland Isles, Birkenhead to Belfast and Dublin, Heysham to Belfast and Dublin, Liverpool to Dublin and between Portsmouth and Bilbao; further notes that the owners of these ships include Marlow Navigation, Varun Shipping, Levantia Transport, Seatruck Ferries, Norse Merchant, P & O Ferries and Jay Management Corporation; calls on these companies to pay the minimum wage; urges the Government to bring forward amendments to the Employment Bill as appropriate to ensure the minimum wage applies to seafarers working on ships operating between UK ports and in the UK Offshore sector; further urges the Government to work with European partners to eliminate poverty pay for seafarers working between the UK and European ports.

This motion has been signed by a total of 53 MPs.