Is this a fair wage for an deckhand trainee and ratings?

[Collisto]

I'm currently on the cargo ship which carries cement and always work on the ship from 8-5 and weekends.

The salary as a deckhand trainee is 600 pounds a month for me including one month paid leave for every 3 months onboard and the AB's get around 1100 a month but none pay tax as they most are foreigners.

Do you agree on this kind of wages?

I think merchant navy has become a joke with pay rates more in a factory/corner shop.

Thank you.

[Gulliver]

Welcome Collisto.
I'm too long retired from the British M.N. to comment on your remuneration.I'd wait until one of your contemporaries replies-although you might have a long wait as we don't often get them looking in !
We are mostly ex-seafarers of that great Heyday of the British Merchant Navy('heyday' generally meaning 1950-1980, who use this excellent site for Contacts/Remembrance/Nostalgia.

However,I will stick my oar in and comment!...

I won't comment about your salary,as presumably you are still very young,and still a trainee.
Now,if your A.B's are on£ 1,100 per month,that works out at about £36.70 per day.So,your 8-hour day works out at approx. £4.80 per hour.
The U.K.Minimum wage is now £5.80 per hour for a 22-year old,-and they can go home every night! ,so your wages sound very poor considering the skills and professionalism needed,not to mention the occasional hardship,and ever-present dangers associated with seafaring. It might be fine for a Filipino or even for an East European,but certainly not for a Brit.

You didn't mention overtime or bonuses,but still,they shouldn't have to compensate for a poor basic wage.....

You didn't say whether it was a proper British flag vessel or not.I hope not!

Anyway,Good Luck with your training.
Best Regards
Gulliver

[happy daze john in oz]

600 a month all found,is good compared with the wages of some cruise ships company. Phillipino deck hands on as little as $75 a month, wingers on as little as $50 a month. Then to add insult to injury all passengers are charged as much as $7.50 per day for gratuities which are supposedly distributed among the crew!!!!!!! Met a head chef on Royal Cerribean cruise ship, English lad now living in Sydney, wife allowed to travel with him and works in the ship's casino. He is on about $2,000 a month all found. Assistant steward in mid 60's was on about 48 pounds a month, all found, room by the sea and an early morning call. Sometimes we actually got paid overtime.

[Captain Kong]

You should be a member of a Trade Union.
Even if your employer does not recognise Trade Unions, they recognise the Legal Department when you need them.
Do not stand alone.

[Gulliver]

I always thought Unions were hand-in-glove-with Companies......

I agree Brian, that it's worth being in a trade union for free legal asistance/compensation.
Link to I.T.F.(Seafarers) here:-

http://www.itfglobal.org/seafarers/index.cfm

[James Tindill]

You ACTUALLY get paid????

AND you get FREE accommodation? AND you get FREE meals? AND you get a months leave every three months FULLY PAID? All of which means you are better off than factory and shop workers who have to pay for all that you receive as part of your salary AND you have no additional costs like transport, etc.

Do you get free cement as well?

We all have to learn and it costs a company to train people who will eventually earn a decent salary through that training. Of course, life is all about choices. You chose to go to sea, you could also have chosen to work in a factory, or a shop. The choice at the end of the day is yours!!!

Even I, like many others, had to train for our lives at sea and a lot of us did our training on a concrete bottomed boat!!! Or so I was led to believe at the time.

My advice to you would be to stop whinging and get on with it or make another life changing choice and join the unemployment queue! You'll need to CEMENT a relationship with some company if you want to make your way in the world.

Just a thought.

James

[Gulliver]

Well James that was a pretty CONCRETE reply!
I notice that Collisto has not yet got round to replying-probably very shy-or perhaps stuck in all that CEMENT!.
I agree that the trainee wage is not bad.
When we were training(as officers or crew) it was accepted that salaries would be very low,but we stuck it out in anticipation of the rewards to come(or not!),meanwhile enjoying it must be said quite a comfortable life as well-that is,compared with similar apprenticeships or trainees in shoreside jobs.

It's the qualified AB 's wages that Collisto quotes in his post that seem poor.
I think we 'll find that his particular shipping company uses an agency to recruit seamen,and will probably be targeted at the Far Eastern pools of seafarers(usually Filipino).
It would be great to know what other Brit seamen are earning today.
It would also be good to know the name of his ship,so that we could look it up on the following site to see if it's reputable or not.
Link Here:-
http://www.itfseafarers.org/look_up_ship2.cfm
　

[James Tindill]

Well, Gulliver, I'd need more concrete evidence.

Of course, one must realise that when we/I went to sea, ships were made of wood and men were made of iron and we survived the seven day working weeks for months on end. And, no doubt, like poor Collisto, we moaned and groaned about our conditions which I know were far worse than his whether as an officer or a crew member. In those far off days we didn't experience the luxuries found on vessels today. No Pig & Whistle for us but a bottle of warm Pale Ale - if you were lucky - to wash down the concrete bread rolls churned out by the fully 'trained' 2nd cook/baker!

Again, 1100.00 pounds a month all found isn't that bad - for a labourer! Better than the minimum wage shoreside, especially if you're in a job that only requires you for twenty hours a week!

I guess at the end of the day it all boils down to the adage "The grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence." (ships rail) Or, in Collister's case, the cement.

Perhaps he didn't realise that ships and their compliment don't stop working at weekends! He's obviously aware of it now!

Let's hope the Captain doesn't spot his complaints or he might end up in a pair of concrete shoes and get dropped over the side to look for a Sandy Bottom, especially if it's an Italian ship!

Forgive my twisted sense of humour but I just can't take the poor lad seriously. Perhaps we should organize a whip round? Nah.

Cheers
Jim

[Collisto]

Hello guys,

Sorry have been away for sometime, well I found out the ship's details by the site link given below:

Vessel name Union Gem IMO 9011961 Flag Isle of Man

Seems to have no ITF or the paperwork in order hmm...any idea what that means?

Thank you.

[Trampshipman]

[QUOTE=Collisto;38761]I'm currently on the cargo ship which carries cement and always work on the ship from 8-5 and weekends.



Yes I think so. Will come back to you shortly.