7 February 2019
RMT Press Office:
RMT to hold protest in Holyhead tomorrow for jobs, pay and trade union rights on Irish Ferries' WB Yeats
Maritime union RMT will be holding a protest on Friday 8th February from 0630 at Holyhead Port, Anglesey LL65 1DR.
The protest will be targeting the 0815 sailing of the Cyprus registered WB Yeats with activists leafleting vehicle and freight passengers as they board the vessel in Holyhead Port.
CHANGE OF TIME: Holyhead Demo for jobs and trade union rights on Irish Ferries’ WB Yeats
The planned sailing of the Irish Ferries ‘super ferry’ WB Yeats has been moved by the company to later in the day.
As a result, we will assemble 11am Friday 8th February, Holyhead Port, Anglesey LL65 1DR to leaflet vehicle and freight passengers as they board the vessel in Holyhead.
The action will demand seafarer jobs, enforcement of employment law and trade union rights on the €144m WB Yeats which Irish Ferries has just brought into service on this key commercial ferry route.
RMT General Secretary, Mick Cash said:
“Irish Ferries, along with other Irish Sea operators such as Seatruck and P&O consistently flout employment law to cut Ratings’ pay below the legal minimum for land-based workers in Eire and the UK.
“Scandalously low pay in the shipping industry has driven a fall in UK Ratings of over 60% since the 1980s. Yet there are 87,000 ratings jobs in the UK shipping industry, with demand forecast to grow in the coming years.
“RMT is fighting to enable domestic seafarers to compete for these jobs by enforcing Minimum Wage legislation and ending nationality based pay discrimination.”
Ends.
Unity House
Tel: 020 7387 4771
Email: