A transport union has raised concerns about a low-wage working model used by Irish Ferries last year, the BBC learned.
The RMT union wrote to the government that it “appears either unable or unwilling to accommodate Irish Ferries’ low-wage working model”.
It is the same model that P&O Ferries is now introducing after laying off 800 employees.
P&O Ferries replaced staff with agency workers who paid less than the UK minimum wage.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told BBC News he would introduce new legislation next week which would mean P&O Ferries and Irish Ferries “have to change their operating model”.
In 2021, the RMT union raised concerns that UK seafarers needed “more government protection from low-cost employers like Irish Ferries”.
In a letter, its Secretary-General, Michael Lynch, called on the government “to address the growing threat Irish Ferries poses to collectively negotiated conditions for seafarers and officers and to safety standards in the ferry sector”.
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Despite calls from the RMT union, Transport Secretary Robert Courts has not proposed legislation in 2021.
Instead, in a letter to RMT, seen by the BBC, he outlined the challenges for the government to take action, saying: “The Irish Ferries ship is not UK marked, it will be operating on an international route and it will spend as much time in the territorial waters of France as in those of the United Kingdom.”
Since the ship is registered in Cyprus, he assumes that the seafarers on the ship are covered by collective bargaining between Cypriot shipowners and Cypriot unions.
Michael Lynch wrote to the Minister when Irish Ferries started operating the Dover to Calais route.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is now proposing measures such as For example, requiring ferry companies to pay UK minimum wage when a ship is in UK waters, but that was not proposed last year.
Peter Hebblethwaite, chief executive of P&O Ferries, defended his decision to lay off nearly 800 workers and replace them with cheaper temporary staff, telling a committee of MPs on Thursday: “This is an international maritime model that will compete with models around the world and matches our competitors.”
Grant Shapps confirmed to BBC News: “There are other operators who have used this model I have to say – Irish Ferries have already done this route.”
And he said the changes he envisioned “would protect those like Stena and DFDS who don’t use this cheap labor below the minimum wage model.”
Irish Ferries declined to comment on the Transport Secretary’s comments.
It also emerged on Friday that the owner of P&O – DP World – had warned Mr Shapps that Irish Ferries was a new “low-cost competitor” that would pose a challenge for the company when minutes of a meeting in November were released.
Mr Shapps had replied to DP World chief DP Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem: “I am aware of the issues surrounding P&O. I recognize that you have commercial decisions to make, but please keep us updated.”
The RMT said the company also operates the low-cost crewing model on the Holyhead-Dublin and Rosslare Pembroke routes, undercutting Stena Line’s British-crewed vessels on those routes.
BBC News asked the Department for Transport what had changed since last year and why it didn’t take action then to protect operators like P&O Ferries from this cut-price competition.
It did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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