Protests planned over Condor "poverty wages"

Thursday 20 December 2018

A UK Maritime Union is holding a protest in Portsmouth on Saturday, in a bid to get Condor Ferries to stop paying "poverty wages".

Condor have said these latest accusations from the RMT about its treatment of its staff are "totally incorrect", however, and have also assured the demonstrations will not affect people's travel.

But nonetheless, RMT, the union, is asking for a minimum wage of £9.75 an hour on Condor's "lifeline Channel Island ferry services".

The protests which are due to take place both on Saturday (22), and also the 12 January, are part of a wider campaign by RMT - SOS 2020 - which is calling out companies that are "profiting from the exploitation of seafarers".

"In addition to disgracefully low wages, 81% of Channel Islanders in 2016 were dissatisfied with Condor Ferries, the result of rising fares, safety incidents, service cancellations, delayed freight supplies and exploitative employment practices," RMT General Secretary, Mick Cash, said.

"This is no way to run a lifeline ferry service for the public, government and businesses of the Channel Islands and we look forward to debating these matters with them."

Condor have said the protests are not expected to affect any of their sailings.

The ferry company currently operates the majority of Guernsey's sea ferry services and over 90% of its sea freight, but since the introduction of the Condor Liberation, people have been calling into question whether the service offered is enough for the island. While statistics show cancellations are not that regular, bad weather in the winter does cause some sailings to be called off. 

In the States last week Deputy Lyndon Trott raised the idea of the States funding its own ferry company to provide Guernsey a stronger sailing schedule, on its own terms. He also said it was understandable from a business sense that Condor focused more on Jersey as a market because it was more profitable for them. 

A Condor Ferries' spokesperson said of the protests: "Condor fully adheres to, and indeed exceeds, domestic and international employment regulations covering the wages, terms and conditions of staff and this includes compliance with the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006," a spokesperson for the ferry company said. 

"A very small number of non-EU seafarers are employed through a specialist recruitment agency and many return to work for Condor time and time again in preference to other opportunities.

"We continue to work closely with the authorities in Guernsey and Jersey to provide the best sea connectivity across our freight, lifeline and tourism offerings."

Pictured top: The Condor Vitesse.