Crew members are finally speaking up for their rights and wages which as not equal for all crew members in the cruise and ferry industry. The crew members gathered under the wing of the RMT union to protest the inequality that they have experienced as employees in the cruise and ferry industry. They are accusing these two branches of underpaying overseas workers and presented the issue during the protest in Southampton. It seems that non-EU workers who are employed in the cruise and ferry industry have been paid lower wages than their EU colleagues. The protesters made their requests public for ships operating in international waters to not be exempted from UK minimum wage legislation.

One of the companies which has been called out by the RMT members is the Carnival UK. According to this company the pay and conditions “meet and exceed all requirements of international employment regulation.”

One of the companies which has been accused of underpaying its employees is the Condor Ferries. According to the RMT, Condor Ferries pays Ukrainian workers £2.35 an hour for working 12 hours a day and three months on the cross-channel ferries. On the other side, the same company pays 70p an hours other non-EU employees as presented by the RMT members.

A spokesman for Condor tried to explain their reasoning for such difference in wages by presenting that the pay of 70p per hour is an “entry-level” pay, while those crew members with specialist skills were paid higher. The spokesman for Condor continues to explain the issue with the wages by justifying that “even those who are paid at the entry level earn around four times the national average wage in Ukraine.”

A representative from the Passenger Shipping Association, Mr. Bill Gibbons, presented this matter with the following words: “All our labour on board is actually governed by international regulations by the Maritime Labour Convention and they are paid very, very competitive rates, compared to what they would get back in their home country.”