Skip to main content
The Morning Star Shop
Brexit ‘a huge opportunity’ to end race to the bottom on pay, delegates hear

LEAVING the EU provides a huge opportunity to end the race to the bottom on seafarers’ rights, RMT leader Mick Cash told STUC delegates yesterday.

Addressing the Save Our Seafarers (SOS) 2020 fringe meeting in Aviemore, Mr Cash said that of 500,000 mariners working in EU waters, just 40 per cent were EU nationals.

Abuse of flags of convenience to allow unscrupulous employers to replace British seafarers with cheap, super-exploited labour from abroad had decimated the industry since Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979, delegates heard; in the following decade, the third-largest merchant navy in the world dropped to 27th place.

“Anyone who wants a debate on what free movement means in terms of labour rights can take a look at the seafaring industry,” Mr Cash pointed out, citing Ukrainians working on ferries operating out of Weymouth paid just £2.45 an hour.

“That’s why we supported leaving the EU and why we still support it.

“When a boat goes from one EU port to another EU port, why can’t we enforce a minimum wage?

“It’s time for change and we can use opportunities like Brexit to keep employment in this country.”

RMT Scotland regional organiser Gordon Martin agreed, saying he was “fed up” hearing people say Brexit was a terrible thing.

“We need to get the right politicians in place to deliver it, but the EU has been no friend to maritime workers,” he said.

Nautilus International national ferry organiser Micky Smyth said the industry should be made to invest in training young seafarers in this country — and said that enforcing a level playing field on pay would see more workers opting to go to sea.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Keir Starmer
Editorial / 23 May 2025
23 May 2025
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves speaks with the media at the Rolls-Royce factory in Derby, following the announcement from the Office for National Statistics that the UK economy grew by 0.7% between January and March, May 15, 2025
Editorial: / 15 May 2025
15 May 2025
Similar stories
Eddie Dempsey joins the picket line outside Paddington Stati
Features / 30 April 2025
30 April 2025

RMT leader Eddie Dempsey's stark warning shook up a fringe meeting at the Scottish TUC

The port of Liverpool
TUC 2024 / 9 September 2024
9 September 2024
Seafaring is vital to our nation’s economy, but the industry has been allowed to diminish with a devastating impact on our port cities and coastal communities – a rejuvenation policy is urgently needed, argues MARK DICKINSON