Global daily news 18.02.2014

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***Portsmouth demo to tackle Condor Ferries’ ‘social dumping’

Trade unionists and ITF inspectors will protest at Portsmouth, England, tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon against the employment practices of ferry operator Condor Ferries.
Representatives of ITF-affiliated unions, including the RMT and Unite the Union, will be joined by the ITF’s UK and Ireland inspectorate at 16:00 tomorrow,18 February, at Portsmouth Commercial Freight Gate, Prospect Road, Portsmouth, PO1.
Condor Ferries, which runs vessels between the UK, Channel Islands and France, is accused by the unions of ‘social dumping’: paying as little as £2.35 per hour to Ukrainian crews that it brought onboard to replace British crews – well below the United Kingdom’s minimum wage. Using the excuse that they are non-domiciled in the European Union those seafarers are also made to work longer hours of duty, while receiving shorter leave.
ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) UK and Ireland coordinator Ken Fleming commented: “I’ve travelled these routes and spoken with these crews. There’s no doubt they’re being paid a pittance. This demonstration is in solidarity with their plight and in protest at the behaviour of the company at treating them this way.”
He continued: “The trade union movement wants no part of an operation that allows its operators to pay £2.35 per hour. The whole city of Portsmouth is invited to take a look at what is going on here and express its rejection of this discrimination.”




***Bombardier win (page 3)

***ITF inspectors win unpaid wages (page 15)

***’Joke justice’ for Korean union leaders (page 25)



FROM TRADEWINDS:


***Detention for Derna

A Derna Carriers vessel which drew the wrath of unions in a crew pay dispute ran into trouble with UK Port State Control in January.

Isis: Detained in January.

Isis: Detained in January.

Officials held the 9,700-dwt Isis (built 2006) in Silvertown on 3 January after picking up 10 deficiencies, including four considered grounds for detention.
The Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) says the cargo ship safety equipment had expired. It also found fault with its use of automatic pilot and ISM procedures.
As TradeWinds has reported, the International Transport Workers’ Federation had threatened to arrest the ship if its owner did not pay overdue wages to its crew of 18 Filipinos.
At the end of January Derna came up with the cash as a deadline set by the ITF loomed large.
According to the MCA, Isis remained under detention on 31 January.
Elsewhere, the V.Ships managed multi-purpose vessel BBS Sea (built 1998) was detained in Southampton for two days in January.
Inspectors held the 3,200-dwt vessel after finding a problem with its minimum safety manning documents.
The vessel, owned by Vaage Shipmanagement of Norway, was released on 16 January, the MCA says.
FROM ALL ABOUT SHIPPING (UK):
***Portsmouth demo tomorrow to tackle Condor Ferries’ ‘social dumping’

Automobiles, ITF, Labour Disputes, Liner Shipping and Trade, Short-sea shipping, Strikes — By admin on February 17, 2014 at 5:16 PM

The ITF HQ's in London

The ITF HQ’s in London
17 February 2014 – Trade unionists and ITF inspectors will protest at Portsmouth, England, tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon against the employment practices of ferry operator Condor Ferries.
Representatives of ITF-affiliated unions, including the RMT and Unite the Union, will be joined by the ITF’s UK and Ireland inspectorate at 16:00 tomorrow,18 February, at Portsmouth Commercial Freight Gate, Prospect Road, Portsmouth, PO1.
Condor Ferries, which runs vessels between the UK, Channel Islands and France, is accused by the unions of ‘social dumping’: paying as little as £2.35 per hour to Ukrainian crews that it brought onboard to replace British crews – well below the United Kingdom’s minimum wage. Using the excuse that they are non-domiciled in the European Union those seafarers are also made to work longer hours of duty, while receiving shorter leave.
ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) UK and Ireland coordinator Ken Fleming commented: “I’ve travelled these routes and spoken with these crews. There’s no doubt they’re being paid a pittance. This demonstration is in solidarity with their plight and in protest at the behaviour of the company at treating them this way.”
CONDOR FERRIESHe continued: “The trade union movement wants no part of an operation that allows its operators to pay £2.35 per hour. The whole city of Portsmouth is invited to take a look at what is going on here and express its rejection of this discrimination.”




FROM PRECISE MEDIA PLANNING:


***Protest against ‘social dumping’ by Condor Ferries; Advance Media Information; Future News Item; International Transport Workers Federation
127 words
18 February 2014

Precise Media Planner

AMEPLA
English
(c) 2014, Precise
Organisation: International Transport Workers Federation
Description: ITF inspectors and trade unionists stage protest against the employment practices of ferry operator Condor Ferries. The company – which runs vessels between the UK, Channel Islands and France – is accused by the unions of ‘social dumping’, paying as little as £2.35 per hour to Ukrainian crews that it brought onboard to replace British crews
Start Date: 2014-02-18
End Date: 2014-02-18
Web Site: http://www.itfglobal.org [http://www.itfglobal.org]
Event Time: 16:00:00.0
Time Zone: GMT
Summary: Protest against ‘social dumping’ by Condor Ferries
Event Type: Highlight
Venue: Portsmouth Commercial Freight Gate, Prospect Road, Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK
Country: United Kingdom



FROM THE RMT:


***RMT campaign over social dumping scandal in UK shipping industry returns to Portsmouth this week
A long running campaign against social dumping in the UK shipping industry will return to the south coast this week with a major protest targeting ferry-operator Condor in Portsmouth tomorrow.

The protest, supported by both RMT and the International Transport Federation, will take place at 16.00 on Tuesday 18th February at Portsmouth Commercial Freight Gate, Prospect Road, Portsmouth, PO1.

The RMT campaign to expose the scandal on Condor Ferries is specifically over the ‘social dumping’ of cheap, non-EU labour which makes a complete mockery of both UK and EU employment rights. Condor Ferries are able to duck around rules and regulations that are supposed to stop exploitation and as a result pay their seagoing staff £2.35 per hour well below the UK minimum wage. Condor operates a ferry service between Portsmouth and the Channel Islands.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said: 

“The super-exploitation of foreign nationals in the British shipping industry is a massive scandal that the political elite want to keep quiet. That’s no surprise as it’s their wealthy mates running the shipping companies who benefit from this scam that dodges normal employment regulations while the European Union refuses to lift a finger.

“Social dumping is a mechanism seized on by some of the most rotten employers in the book to dry and batter down wages and conditions. RMT members and their supporters have the full support of the union for this weeks’ protest in Portsmouth as the union, alongside our colleagues in the ITF, steps up the fight against Condor Ferries and the ships of shame.”

RMT National Secretary Steve Todd said:

“The fight to stop the scandal of social dumping remains a national priority for RMT and we will continue to step up the campaign to turn the spotlight on the shameful practices that this ConDem government legitamises in the British shipping industry with the collusion of the EU.”