Bid to force UK-France ferry companies to pay French minimum wage
The French parliament is set to consider a bill to force ferry companies operating on UK-France routes to pay their staff at least the French minimum wage - a move that particularly targets P&O Ferries, which last year sacked its UK-based staff and replaced them with low-paid foreign workers.
Three MPs who represent constituencies along the Channel coast will present a bill to the Assemblée nationale next month, aimed at forcing any company that operates regular services on routes between France and the UK to adhere to French labour and minimum wage standards.
The three are from opposing parties - Sébastien Jumel of the Communist party, Pierrick Berteloot of the far-right Rassemblement National and Didier Le Gac of Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance group - but all represent coastal constituencies where cross-Channel ferries operate.
They say that the employment practices of P&O allow them to offer cheaper tickets than the French company Brittany Ferries and the Danish DFDS, creating unfair competition on cross-Channel routes.
Their bill is backed by the seafarers' union CGT, which claimed that P&O's employment practices are "inhumane".
The CGT's Marc Sagot told French newspaper Libération: "At P&O, employees can work for up to seventeen weeks at a time without setting foot on land. At the Danish shipowner DFDS the rule is fourteen days at sea, fourteen days off, whereas at Brittany Ferries it is more like seven and seven. And once the P&O staff return to shore, they have no paid rest, no holidays."
He said that these practices allow P&O to save up to 80 percent on its wages bill, and therefore offer lower-priced tickets to customers.
The bill also targets Irish company Irish Ferries, which has used a 'flag of convenience' by registering ships in other countries so that they are not covered by Irish rules on wages and employment conditions.
The Dubai-owned P&O Ferries caused outrage last year when it fired all of its UK-based seafaring staff via a video call, and replaced them with low-paid foreign workers. Sailings were halted for several weeks due to safety concerns about the training of the new staff, but resumed in the second half of the year.
The three MPs hope to present a joint bill to parliament for a vote by the end of March, although at this stage it is not backed by the government.
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Three MPs who represent constituencies along the Channel coast will present a bill to the Assemblée nationale next month, aimed at forcing any company that operates regular services on routes between France and the UK to adhere to French labour and minimum wage standards.
The three are from opposing parties - Sébastien Jumel of the Communist party, Pierrick Berteloot of the far-right Rassemblement National and Didier Le Gac of Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance group - but all represent coastal constituencies where cross-Channel ferries operate.
They say that the employment practices of P&O allow them to offer cheaper tickets than the French company Brittany Ferries and the Danish DFDS, creating unfair competition on cross-Channel routes.
Their bill is backed by the seafarers' union CGT, which claimed that P&O's employment practices are "inhumane".
The CGT's Marc Sagot told French newspaper Libération: "At P&O, employees can work for up to seventeen weeks at a time without setting foot on land. At the Danish shipowner DFDS the rule is fourteen days at sea, fourteen days off, whereas at Brittany Ferries it is more like seven and seven. And once the P&O staff return to shore, they have no paid rest, no holidays."
He said that these practices allow P&O to save up to 80 percent on its wages bill, and therefore offer lower-priced tickets to customers.
The bill also targets Irish company Irish Ferries, which has used a 'flag of convenience' by registering ships in other countries so that they are not covered by Irish rules on wages and employment conditions.
The Dubai-owned P&O Ferries caused outrage last year when it fired all of its UK-based seafaring staff via a video call, and replaced them with low-paid foreign workers. Sailings were halted for several weeks due to safety concerns about the training of the new staff, but resumed in the second half of the year.
The three MPs hope to present a joint bill to parliament for a vote by the end of March, although at this stage it is not backed by the government.
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