Shipping firms may quit UK over threatened equal pay rule
Ferry Online Travel News 05/07/2010
New regulations governing pay for overseas crews may cause some firms to exit the UK.
Some of biggest companies in shipping, ferries and cruises are warning they may have to quit the UK if the government goes ahead with a new rule on pay equality. They say the law will destroy their competiveness, forcing them to abandon the UK. The companies currently pay crew members based overseas at pay rates competitive in their home countries. A rule being proposed would force ferry, cruise and shipping firms based in the UK to pay all staff at UK rates, even if they never enter the UK.
Senior executives of firms such as Stena Line, P&O and Maersk criticized the rule in an open letter published in UK newspaper the Daily Telegraph. In the letter, they said, “As a result of an obscure regulation arising from the Equality Act, many major companies will have no choice but to re-register their ships away from Britain.” P&O points out that any rule that increases costs will threaten jobs.
The Transport Minister, Mike Penning, said he is looking into the issue. He is considering information submitted from various members of the industry and will then make a proposal to Parliament on how to move forward on the issue of differential pay for seafarers.
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