Pay controversy taints Oscar Wilde launch

IRISH FERRIES formally named its new €50 million ferry, Oscar Wilde, in Dublin Port yesterday as the company again faced criticism about pay and conditions for staff working on its vessels.

The 31,914-tonne ship will commence operations on Irish Ferries’ scheduled sailings between Ireland and France this week.

However, yesterday’s ceremony came as a report broadcast on Newstalk 106-108FM claimed that crew members on board Oscar Wilde are being paid less than half the Irish minimum wage.

Irish Ferries was at the centre of a bitter industrial relations controversy in 2005 after the company’s managing director, Eamonn Rothwell replaced almost 500 staff with lower-paid migrant workers through an outsourcing arrangement on Normandy — the vessel the Oscar Wilde will replace on the Rosslare-Cherbourg/ Roscoff routes.

Yesterday, the International Transport Workers Federation also criticised Irish Ferries for some work practices which it claimed bordered on incarceration.

It is understood crews working on the company’s Jonathan Swift ferry between Dublin and Holyhead work up to 12 hours before transferring to a sister vessel to sleep as it sails between Ireland and Wales.

“The groups of crews on the Swift are instructed not to go ashore. They spend their rest time, we believe, incarcerated on the other ship,” said ITWF spokesperson, Ken Fleming.

However, an Irish Ferries spokesperson said there was nothing unusual in the arrangement as many crew members lived on board their vessels while working away from home.

Irish Ferries also denied having direct responsibility for the pay and conditions of the staff working on board its vessels which constitute a large number of workers from eastern Europe.

The company’s spokes-person said any complaints about working conditions should be directed to the Cypriot-based company, Dobson Fleet Management, which was the firm which employed the crew.

“We are very happy with the staff supplied to us and the service they provide. It is better than it has ever been before and customer complaints are low,” he added.

Built in the Finnish port of Turku in 1987, Oscar Wilde was previously operated by the Norwegian ferry company, Color Line on the Baltic Sea route between Oslo and Kiel.

Both the new ship and the Normandy are registered in the Bahamas, which allows crews working on Irish Ferries vessels to be paid less than the national minimum wage.

Oscar Wilde can carry up to 1,458 passengers and 580 cars, while also reducing journey times between Ireland and France by 60 minutes to an average of 16 hours.

On-board facilities on the new vessel includes two 55-seat cinemas, restaurants, shops, a hair and beauty salon and a walking tour that highlights the ship’s links with Oscar Wilde.