People Before Profit representative for Galway, Adrian Curran, has condemned what he has termed the “criminal failure by the State to ensure that the rights of undocumented workers in the fishing industry are upheld.
This is in light of a report by researchers from Maynooth University published this week which reveals that migrant workers in the fishing industry are disgracefully poorly paid, with wages often falling well below the minimum wage, said Mr Curran
“Two-thirds of undocumented fishers, who mostly come from Egypt, the Philippines and Ghana, work up to 20 hours a day with few breaks, with work performed under threat of dismissal or deportation. The same proportion feel unsafe on their vessel and over half have been subjected to severe racial abuse and verbal insults,” he added.
“Others reported a range of health issues, including broken bones, back problems, and finger loss, and a majority do not receive sick pay.”
Mr Curran added that the study establishes that the sector is rife with human trafficking, with 35 fishers admitted to the National Referral Mechanism for Human Trafficking so far.
“The current Atypical Work Permit Scheme under which these workers operate ties hundreds of fishers to a single employer. This is a recipe ripe for exploitation and coercion. Legal barriers preventing undocumented fishers from claiming employment rights must be removed, and their applications for Stamp 4 Visas expedited to allow them to begin organising for decent pay and safe working conditions.”
“To ensure there is a meaningful deterrent to this outrageous mistreatment, the Workplace Relations Commission should consistently make unannounced and thorough inspections of all boats and talk to migrant workers in private with trained interpreters. The vessel owners responsible for this greedy exploitation must face bans from fishing, prohibitive fines and substantial prison terms,” he concluded.
