Mick Cash
SEAFARER union RMT today demanded Government intervention to prevent the loss of hundreds of Scottish and UK seafarer Ratings’ jobs following Tidewater’s buy out of Gulfmark to form the world’s largest offshore supply vessel (OSV) company.
Up to 300 Ratings jobs are on the line, with Tidewater refusing to discuss the future of Gulfmark’s UK registered fleet with the recognised union, RMT.
General Secretary, Mick Cash said:
“Tidewater must meet us in Aberdeen for immediate discussion of our members’ jobs on the fleet of offshore supply vessels acquired as part of the Gulfmark takeover. We cannot have another damaging loss of UK Ratings’ jobs and I fully expect the Shipping Minister Nusrat Ghani MP, with whom we had a useful discussion of the Tidewater-Gulfmark takeover in October, to step in to protect seafarers’ jobs in the North Sea, if necessary.
“Predatory companies seeking to slash terms and conditions and discriminate against foreign seafarers by paying well below the National Minimum Wage must be driven out of the shipping industry. As we head for the EU exit, non-EU companies in the North Sea need a strong reminder from trade unions and the Government of the need to protect British seafarers’ jobs and trade union rights in the OSV sector.”
