Displaying items by tag: Support UK Gov
Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan Will Support UK Move to Force Minimum Wage on Ferries
The Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan has said he would support any new measures taken by the UK government to raise wages on Irish Sea ferries in response to the P&O controversy.
British transport secretary Grant Shapps has signalled that he wants to create “minimum wage corridors” between the UK and its main trading partners Ireland, France and Denmark to overhaul international maritime law so that ferry operators pay better wages to crew members.
His plans come in response to P&O’s mass sacking of 800 crew members without consultation, replacing them with agency staff paid about 40 per cent less than the UK minimum wage.
Asked whether the Government would support Mr Shapps’s proposals on Irish Sea routes, Mr Ryan said: “What happened in P&O Ferries in my mind was outrageous in terms of the shift towards cheaper wages as a solution to problems we have in the energy and transport sector.” He added “If the UK government was looking at a more just approach to wage levels in that sector, I would be supportive,”
A spokeswoman for the Minister confirmed that Mr Shapps had written to Mr Ryan about extending employee rights for seafarers with regard to the national minimum wage.
More from The Irish Times on response from this side of the Irish Sea over the ongoing ferry dispute.
