17 March 2025
RMT Press Office:
Maritime union, RMT today called on the government to do more to protect seafarers, three years after P&O unlawfully sacked 800 workers.
RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said:
“The government has taken some big steps in the right direction.
“But there is more to do to stop another P&O Ferries from happening.
“We want to continue to work with ministers to go further so that bad employers cannot exploit legal loopholes, sack and replace staff or drive down wages.
"Unions and ministers need the power to take pre-emptive legal action to block mass redundancies before they happen, stop companies from breaking employment laws in real time, and hold bad employers accountable before workers lose their jobs.
"Seafarers deserve stronger employment protections, in line with land-based workers. The Employment Rights Bill should apply to seafarers in full and lowering the threshold for UK port calls would also ensure that more seafarer Ratings in the shipping industry are covered by fair pay and employment conditions.
"Ministers have a huge opportunity to deliver real security and rights for seafarers and we will continue to work constructively with them in order to achieve that.”
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Tagged with: RMT, Eddie Dempsey, P&O Ferries, Fire And Rehire
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