France -Condor Ferries accused -February 20, 2014

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 on board to replace British crews – well below the UK’s minimum wage. Using the excuse that they are non-domiciled in the EU those seafarers are made to work longer hours of duty, while receiving shorter leave. The Rapide ferry from the same operator is registered in the Bahamas but has a French crew. The crew of this service (between St. Helier and St. Malo) started a wildcat strike demanding better benefits. After two weeks the management stated that all workers had decided to sign up to an offer of insurances and that sailings were expected to resume. However, the trade unions have warned that the dispute is not over. They will take legal advice on how to get better pay and conditions.

English: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-26277367  

http://www.itfglobal.org/press-area/index.cfm/pressdetail/10129

 

For more information, please contact the editor Jan Cremers, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) cbn-aias@uva.nl or the communications officer at the ETUI, Mariya Nikolova mnikolova@etui.org. For previous issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit http://www.etui.org/E-Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net.