Still fighting the P&O sackings [print version]
P&O Ferries workers are continuing to protest against the notorious sacking and re-hiring scandal.
Shipping
Shipping
Two years on – still fighting P&O sackings
27 March 2024
Protests continue against the notorious P&O Ferries sackings two years ago. Unions are calling for changes to prevent any repeat, but the government isn’t taking effective action.
Cruise operator withdraws conditions threat
1 December 2023
Cruise operator Carnival quickly withdrew an apparent threat to fire and rehire over 900 maritime professionals. After urgent negotiations with their union, the company confirmed it will not do so.
Liverpool dock strike enters second phase
7 October 2022
Over 560 dockers at the Port of Liverpool have just completed the first two-week planned phase of their strike action over pay and conditions. Now more workers are set to join in with fresh action from 11 to 17 October.
Ferries - Red Funnel pay fight
Ferry workers on the Red Funnel crossings from Southampton to Cowes on the Isle of Wight continued their pay fight with strikes throughout August.
Liverpool dock strikes imminent
17 August 2022
Liverpool port workers are preparing to start strikes after an inadequate pay offer. A ballot of Unite members overwhelmingly supported taking action.
Felixstowe Port workers strike over pay [updated]
Felixstowe’s container port ground to a halt on 21 August as Unite members there walked out on an eight-day strike over pay..
Red Funnel workers in dispute
15 August 2022
Ferry Workers on Red Funnel Isle of Wight routes are fighting for better pay with a series strikes throughout August.
Ferry workers rally to fight [print version]
The RMT and Nautilus International, the trade unions representing workers sacked by P&O Ferries, continue to fight the sackings.
P&O – ferry workers rally to the fight
21 April 2022
Trade unions representing workers sacked by P&O Ferries continue their fight the sackings with a series of rallies at ports around the country and outside the offices of P&O’s Dubai-owned parent company.
P&O Ferries – the fight continues
30 March 2022
Sacked seafarers are taking the fight to P&O Ferries with demonstrations around the country in response to the employer’s brazen actions.
P&O Ferries: stand and fight is the only option
19 March 2022
P&O Ferries sacked 800 British crew from its ferries on Wednesday 17 March. The response from workers was immediate and clear. Demonstrations are happening around British ports. Unions are taking the fight to the company.
Budget fails British seafarers, says RMT
1 November 2021
Shipping tax changes are a capitulation to global capitalism and do nothing to reverse long-term decline in seafarer jobs.
Fall in British ratings [extended print version]
British seafarers are becoming ever rarer as low wages and immigration waivers bedevil the industry…
Fewer and fewer British ratings working at sea, says RMT
8 October 2021
The RMT has released figures revealing a massive decline in the employment of British seafarers, compounded by poverty wages in the maritime sector.
RMT calls for action to ensure jobs for British ratings
28 August 2020
Seafarers’ union RMT has written to shipping minister Kelly Tolhurst demanding action over the lack of jobs for British ratings on ACS container ships.
Take control of P&O to safeguard jobs and marine supply chain, says union
14 May 2020
P&O Ferries has cut jobs on key ferry routes, while taking government support for Covid-19. The seafarers’ union RMT is calling for the government to take control of the company.
Unions call for ‘Jones Act’ to save jobs and industry
Britain is an island nation, but its shipping is open to any country in the EU. British ships sail under foreign flags, employing seafarers at below the UK minimum wage. Time to change all that…
Welsh seafarers call for jobs, training and a future
10 January 2020
Maritime and transport union RMT demonstrated outside the Welsh Parliament this week on a dark, cold and wet evening as part of its campaign for the future of British seafaring.
No flag of ours
The seized Stena Impero is owned by a Swedish company with no British crew. So why the British flag?
Apart from the flag, what's British about the Stena Impero?
30 July 2019
The seized bulk carrier Stena Impero is owned by a Swedish company and operated by a crew none of whom are British. So why the British flag?
Brexit jobs petition launched
Traction is developing around campaigns to use Brexit to boost employment, wages and conditions among British seafarers.
Fleet Auxiliarly action over pay
Nearly 700 Royal Fleet Auxiliary sailors, members of the RMT union, are to take industrial action from 2 July in a dispute over pay.
Action over pay in Royal Fleet Auxiliary
27 June 2019
Nearly 700 Royal Fleet Auxiliary sailors, members of the RMT union, are to take industrial action from 2 July in a dispute over pay.
Petition launched to protect British seafaring
18 June 2019
Momentum is developing around campaigns to use Brexit to boost employment, wages and conditions among British seafarers.
Unions fight for UK employment on Brexit ferries
31 January 2019
The RMT union called yesterday for the government to publish the legal advice it received over the granting of Brexit ferry contracts to Seaborne Freight and others.
‘Free movement’?
Free movement of labour from inside and outside the EU has seen employers taking on staff at below even the minimum wage.
Unions plan a future for British shipping
Trade unions involved in British shipping have set their minds to exploiting the opportunities that will open up when we leave the EU. In so doing, they are setting an example to the whole trade union movement…
Expand support for training, says UK Chamber of Shipping
6 September 2017
Britain’s shipping employers want a big boost to the number of officer cadets training in this country.