Workers on a €50 million ferry due to begin sailings between Ireland and France for Irish Ferries will be paid approximately €4 an hour, according to a trade union official.
Up to 400 guests from the tourism, freight and shipping sectors attended a naming ceremony for the company's latest vessel in Dublin Port yesterday.
Built in Finland in 1987, the ferry previously belonged to Norwegian ferry operator Color Line. It will replace the Normandy and is, according to the operator, larger, faster and more luxurious.
Managing director of Irish Ferries Eamonn Rothwell said it was a very proud occasion for the company. "We are confident that our customers will react favourably to the major improvements in quality and capacity which the Oscar Wilde brings to our Irish/France service."
He said the combination of the new vessel and the company's "highly competitive fares and freight rates" would make Irish Ferries a very attractive option for those seeking to sail between Ireland and Europe.
Irish Ferries is part of Irish Continental Group plc. Speaking at the naming ceremony ICG's finance director Gearoid O'Dea said he expected a "challenging year" in 2008 because of higher oil prices and weaker British consumer spending. "I don't mean just for us, I mean for everybody, given oil prices and the potential weakness of the British consumer market."
An inspector with the Irish Transport Workers' Federation, Ken Fleming, said workers on the ferry would be paid €4 an hour, almost half the Irish minimum wage. He said the workers on the Irish Ferries route to France were mostly from the newer EU member states.
A request to the company for a response to Mr Fleming's comments, met with no response.
Mr Fleming said it was his understanding that the workers did not leave the ships when not on shift.
He said an agreement with the company which ensures the minimum wage was paid to the lowest grades on the Ireland/Britain routes, would run out in December. He expected the lower wage paid on the Ireland/France sailings, would then pertain on the Ireland/Britain routes.
Mr Fleming said there were two ships operating the Ireland/Britain routes and that the workers on them work 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, and spend their spare time on the alternative vessel to the one they are employed on.
Mr Fleming said it was his understanding that employees who came ashore could be disciplined or even sacked.
He said the workers worked two month contracts. "Fatigue must be the order of the day."
The workers on the ferries are not members of a trade union.
In 2006 Irish Ferries made more than 500 staff redundant as part of an outsourcing and cost reduction exercise.
The staff that now man its ships are supplied by an agency understood to be located in Cyprus. - (Additional reporting Bloomberg)
