ianstone
10-02-2010, 09:06 AM
Polish workers are drafted in to build Navy's new carriers: Migrants paid barely half the British rate
By Ryan Kisiel (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Ryan+Kisiel) and Jack Doyle (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Jack+Doyle)
Last updated at 1:51 PM on 2nd October 2010
Comments (132) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1317035/Polish-workers-drafted-build-Navys-new-carriers-Migrants-paid-barely-half-British-rate.html#comments)
Add to My Stories (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1317035/Polish-workers-drafted-build-Navys-new-carriers-Migrants-paid-barely-half-British-rate.html)
Cut-price Polish workers have been drafted in to help build Britain’s two new multi-billion-pound aircraft carriers, it emerged last night.
Experts said it was the first time a Royal Navy shipbuilding programme has required the mass recruitment of overseas workers.
Some of the Polish welders are paid little more than £8 an hour for the job. This may be above the minimum wage of £5.80, but it is barely half the £15 an hour paid to British tradesmen doing similar work as employees of the main contractor, BAE Systems.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/02/article-1317035-0B70D8DD000005DC-116_468x303.jpg Sea patrol: Computer-generated image of one of the carriers
Employers sub-contracted to the job by BAE turned to dozens of Poles because
they couldn’t find UK workers with the required skills.
In a great irony, some of the welders learnt their skills working on Soviet submarines during the Cold War, when Poland was behind the Iron Curtain.
Special security passes have been created for the workers because of the difficulty of carrying out full background checks.
And employers have been forced to put up signs in Polish to comply with health and safety rules.
Critics said the move exposed the hollowness of Labour’s pledge to invest in training over more than a decade.
Stephen Alambritis, chief spokesman for the Federation of Small Businesses said: ‘It’s a sad state of affairs when there aren’t enough British welders in the workplace to take advantage of these jobs.
More...
Polish migrants rushing back to Britain now the worst of the recession is over, figures show (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1317089/Polish-migrants-returning-Britain-worst-recession-over.html)
‘This is a reflection of how it is critically important to increase apprenticeships and go back to the system of experienced welders teaching young apprentices.
‘Manufacturing, welding, electrical jobs – these are jobs that have lost a gloss about them but are all good, solid work that can command a solid income.
‘But over the years there has been a reluctance to promote the learning of a trade through apprenticeships.’
The Royal Navy has ordered two 65,000-ton vessels, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, at a cost of £5.2billion.
The order was finally confirmed two years ago by then Defence Secretary Des Browne but had been on the drawing board for a decade.
It was claimed the order would safeguard or create 10,000 jobs across the UK.
Earlier this month up to 120 Polish labourers started work at Portsmouth Naval Base.
It is the largest centre where the aircraft carriers are being built, but Poles are also thought to be working on the project in Govan, Glasgow; Barrow in Cumbria; and Tynedale in the North East.
Sub-contractors who spoke to the Mail said they had no option but to look abroad for workers because they couldn’t find the skills needed in the UK.
Ben Domment, Managing Director of Inter Marine UK, which has employed 36 welders on the same wages as British workers, said: ‘They are not paid any less than the British workers. We pay them what they are due.
‘We have been forced to employ these Polish workers because we couldn’t find any British ones.’
Naval historian Professor Andrew Lambert, of King’s College London, said it was the first time since the 14th century that mass migrants had come to the UK to help build ships.
Then, Spanish and Greek tradesmen constructed wooden mast ships for Privateers – private crews that were the basis for the modern Royal Navy.
He added: ‘It’s a shame that there has not been a modern ship-building programme in the UK for a long time and these skills have been lost.
‘For hundreds of years Britain was the biggest shipbuilder in the world and people came from all over to view our methods. It’s deeply ironic that we are now relying upon the last of Brezhnev’s shipbuilders to build our new Royal Navy ships.’
A spokesman for defence giant BAE systems, which is a leading member of the group producing the carriers, said: ‘We do not differentiate between British and foreign workers and employ people based on their skills, experience and suitability to the role.
‘Working in the base is subject to security clearance and access control measures appropriate to the working area.’
Earlier this month it emerged the carriers could be ditched to cut costs. The Ministry of Defence asked BAE to look at the financial implications of scrapping one or both of the replacement warships.
The department is under huge pressure to cut its £36.9billion annual budget by up to 20 per cent. The defence equipment programme is already £36billion over budget.
Tensions between the MoD and the Treasury over the cuts burst into public this week when a letter from Defence Secretary Liam Fox to David Cameron was leaked.
In it he denounced the Treasury’s demands for ‘draconian’ 10 per cent cuts as ‘virtually impossible’.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1317035/Polish-workers-drafted-build-Navys-new-carriers-Migrants-paid-barely-half-British-rate.html#ixzz11Cr1bQ3O
By Ryan Kisiel (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Ryan+Kisiel) and Jack Doyle (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Jack+Doyle)
Last updated at 1:51 PM on 2nd October 2010
Comments (132) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1317035/Polish-workers-drafted-build-Navys-new-carriers-Migrants-paid-barely-half-British-rate.html#comments)
Add to My Stories (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1317035/Polish-workers-drafted-build-Navys-new-carriers-Migrants-paid-barely-half-British-rate.html)
Cut-price Polish workers have been drafted in to help build Britain’s two new multi-billion-pound aircraft carriers, it emerged last night.
Experts said it was the first time a Royal Navy shipbuilding programme has required the mass recruitment of overseas workers.
Some of the Polish welders are paid little more than £8 an hour for the job. This may be above the minimum wage of £5.80, but it is barely half the £15 an hour paid to British tradesmen doing similar work as employees of the main contractor, BAE Systems.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/02/article-1317035-0B70D8DD000005DC-116_468x303.jpg Sea patrol: Computer-generated image of one of the carriers
Employers sub-contracted to the job by BAE turned to dozens of Poles because
they couldn’t find UK workers with the required skills.
In a great irony, some of the welders learnt their skills working on Soviet submarines during the Cold War, when Poland was behind the Iron Curtain.
Special security passes have been created for the workers because of the difficulty of carrying out full background checks.
And employers have been forced to put up signs in Polish to comply with health and safety rules.
Critics said the move exposed the hollowness of Labour’s pledge to invest in training over more than a decade.
Stephen Alambritis, chief spokesman for the Federation of Small Businesses said: ‘It’s a sad state of affairs when there aren’t enough British welders in the workplace to take advantage of these jobs.
More...
Polish migrants rushing back to Britain now the worst of the recession is over, figures show (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1317089/Polish-migrants-returning-Britain-worst-recession-over.html)
‘This is a reflection of how it is critically important to increase apprenticeships and go back to the system of experienced welders teaching young apprentices.
‘Manufacturing, welding, electrical jobs – these are jobs that have lost a gloss about them but are all good, solid work that can command a solid income.
‘But over the years there has been a reluctance to promote the learning of a trade through apprenticeships.’
The Royal Navy has ordered two 65,000-ton vessels, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, at a cost of £5.2billion.
The order was finally confirmed two years ago by then Defence Secretary Des Browne but had been on the drawing board for a decade.
It was claimed the order would safeguard or create 10,000 jobs across the UK.
Earlier this month up to 120 Polish labourers started work at Portsmouth Naval Base.
It is the largest centre where the aircraft carriers are being built, but Poles are also thought to be working on the project in Govan, Glasgow; Barrow in Cumbria; and Tynedale in the North East.
Sub-contractors who spoke to the Mail said they had no option but to look abroad for workers because they couldn’t find the skills needed in the UK.
Ben Domment, Managing Director of Inter Marine UK, which has employed 36 welders on the same wages as British workers, said: ‘They are not paid any less than the British workers. We pay them what they are due.
‘We have been forced to employ these Polish workers because we couldn’t find any British ones.’
Naval historian Professor Andrew Lambert, of King’s College London, said it was the first time since the 14th century that mass migrants had come to the UK to help build ships.
Then, Spanish and Greek tradesmen constructed wooden mast ships for Privateers – private crews that were the basis for the modern Royal Navy.
He added: ‘It’s a shame that there has not been a modern ship-building programme in the UK for a long time and these skills have been lost.
‘For hundreds of years Britain was the biggest shipbuilder in the world and people came from all over to view our methods. It’s deeply ironic that we are now relying upon the last of Brezhnev’s shipbuilders to build our new Royal Navy ships.’
A spokesman for defence giant BAE systems, which is a leading member of the group producing the carriers, said: ‘We do not differentiate between British and foreign workers and employ people based on their skills, experience and suitability to the role.
‘Working in the base is subject to security clearance and access control measures appropriate to the working area.’
Earlier this month it emerged the carriers could be ditched to cut costs. The Ministry of Defence asked BAE to look at the financial implications of scrapping one or both of the replacement warships.
The department is under huge pressure to cut its £36.9billion annual budget by up to 20 per cent. The defence equipment programme is already £36billion over budget.
Tensions between the MoD and the Treasury over the cuts burst into public this week when a letter from Defence Secretary Liam Fox to David Cameron was leaked.
In it he denounced the Treasury’s demands for ‘draconian’ 10 per cent cuts as ‘virtually impossible’.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1317035/Polish-workers-drafted-build-Navys-new-carriers-Migrants-paid-barely-half-British-rate.html#ixzz11Cr1bQ3O