DOG News Issue 3

DOG

DOG ISSUE 3 I February 2022

NEWS

Diving standards • Initial terms • Safety • Conditions • Overall welfare • Rates • Decent equipment

Welcome to the third edition of your DOG News

Scan this QR Code to join RMT or visit www.rmt.org.uk/join We’ve been away for a few months doing our ‘day jobs’ of diving and it was a pretty busy season! Things are a bit quieter now and we’ve been talking to you and pulled together a load of news and views from across the country and beyond. We hope you enjoy our mix of stories and opinions and we kick-off with an opinion – are you on-board?

NO MATTER WHERE OR WHAT THE JOB IS, YOUR DOG IS YOUR BEST FRIEND!

This article was knocked-up by ‘a diver’ giving us a different way to view our campaign for Trade Union recognition and negotiating rights. If you’ve got any thoughts about this or anything else, drop us a line or two and we’ll put it out there. rmtidog@gmail.com

All aboard?

An umbrella does not prevent the rain, but it does offer some protection from getting wet. The only downside being that you have to be carrying it with you when the deluge occurs. When the forecast is poor there is not much point to leaving it at home, then complaining when you get soaked.

Equally, don’t wait until the water is above your knees to pick up a hammer to help build the Ark! Moaning about any situation without being prepared to shoulder some of the responsibility to change it, is largely pointless.

We all know the conditions in Civils diving are dire and have been in need of vast improvement for, well, ever! Pay, welfare and safety would all be top of most diver’s lists.

“It’s rubbish and it needs to change...”

Well, the best hope for a solution has offered itself forward in the form of a union.

“Oh, it won’t work - Divers won’t stick together!”

If only the divers who use this excuse not to join would realise - they are the diver that refuses to stick together!

Pick up your hammer, help build the Ark. “No point joining, nothing seems to be happening yet, I’ll join when stuff starts getting done...”

Not really the way it works is it? A union’s strength is in its numbers, anything it wants to achieve is dependent on having the backing of the majority of those it represents.

Each and everyone is vital to the whole. The more people with a hammer in their hand, the quicker, bigger and stronger the Ark can be built.

“I’m worried what companies will think...”

First, they don’t need to know, you don’t have to tell anyone. Second, it’s actually straight illegal to discriminate against anyone due to Union membership.

Third, do you even want to work for a company with such an attitude? Fourth, all this should improve the whole industry, not just for the divers. The companies that flout the safety regulations and scrimp on welfare and Diver’s wages are the ones undercutting the reputable companies, driving the race to the bottom. Good dive companies should welcome it. Some might even help supply the wood!

“The momentum has been lost, what am I paying for? I might quit...”

Unfortunately, it is a slow process, full of red tape and bureaucracy, but to achieve meaningful and lasting change it has to be done the right way and maintained. The initial drive and uptake took many by surprise but showed the appetite for a seachange. Now we need patience while the yomp eats up the miles, we are in it for the long haul and the hard work will get done. Ideas and participation are welcomed, but actually, you don’t even have to do anything beyond occasionally stand up to be counted, through paying your membership and the odd vote. The membership you pay for (less than 2 hours work on even the current worst paid jobs and much less than half a cheap night out) does bring with it some perks, such as a modest amount of free life insurance, and there’s also a portion that is tax deductible. There are plenty of potential benefits, virtually

zero drawbacks, I struggle to understand why anyone would not join?

It is a choice, and it’s for each person to choose, ultimately no one can make you choose either way. Think on the choices though. Are you satisfied with the way things are? One option is to continue with the current state (and probable decline) of conditions. The other option is the only realistic chance of effecting real change. Don’t make a choice because someone is pressuring you.

Make a choice because it will benefit you. In doing that it should benefit all of us.

As you knock nails into the Ark’s hull, it provides you with shelter. Still, you do not know yet, as the waters rise, whether it will float or sink. However, if you swim off into the flood your fate is inevitable. The benefits far outweigh the alternative. Pick up your brolly and hammer, get on board and help the boat to float, then we can all enjoy the cruise!

Details provided

2

Getting employers on board The article on page 2 talks about getting support for what we’re trying to do and it’s the only sensible approach. But let’s be honest, it’s not just the divers we need to make this happen, the employers need to get on board as well. So the DOG thought we’d start a chat with the employers across the sector. This is the letter that was sent to some of the ADC contractors and some non-ADC contractors.

DOG

Hello Diving Contractor, The Inshore Divers Organising Grou

p

and our) industry. and to outline our goals for ‘our’ (yours We are writing to introduce ourselves ore DOG) which is offsh p (Inshore DOG, there is also an We are the Inshore Divers Organising Grou the National with nally r inshore diving community natio a group of divers supporting the wide Workers (RMT).

Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport ty, training ts from workers about pay, welfare, safe Having listened for so long to complain better working , we have decided to try and develop a standards, costs, and conditions generally hasise this is not ers and contractors alike. We must emp relationship which will serve to help work work as it keeps e mor re the opposite. We want you to secu an attack on Diving Contractors, quite rs’ for all forms racto cont to ‘go Diving Contractors to be the us employed. We want our UK National les market. wab rene gy ener ing and especially the grow of diving around the UK inshore market, g supply chain, to lobbying to protect our UK inshore divin We see RMT as the vehicle for political much more. Of sing, application of our standards and exert influence on domestic content, licen but we hope this s, e change in terms of pay and condition course, we are keen to bring about som community. ors tract Con ‘level playing field’ for the Diving will be seen as our effort to establish a sure to pres ying appl from ent your prospective clients We believe a level playing field will prev a with ects proj for er tend s and enable you to undercut each other on pay and condition price war standards’. A race to the bottom and a imum ‘min r othe and benchmark on pay, welfare is bad for you and for us! and June 24th, 2021 on two separate occasions, April 11th We have now met with the ADC Board hip can be ions relat meetings. We hope a working and we believe these were constructive dge you may not owle ackn We the wider ADC members. developed over time with the Board and g Contractors.

Divin all with work to lem, we are looking be an ADC member, but this is not a prob ge with the the primary means through which to enga We do though consider the ADC to be Diving Contractor community. of some interest. er, “DOG NEWS” which we hope will be We attach a copy of our latest newslett t made by the poin a was some or all of the content, this We appreciate you may not agree with for what it is, er slett new the , we hope you can accept ADC Board at our last meeting. However don’t align h whic ions opin and there will be views the ‘voice of the inshore diver’ and as such m our infor er bett to , ions opin ge of our role, to chan with the employers. We see this as part ve that belie ly firm better inform you as the employer. We g members, engage and involve divers to divin onal Nati ovement across the sector and make our together we can drive continuous impr stries we work in. supply chain the first choice for all indu ther we can or bad, and we genuinely hope that toge We would welcome your feedback, good taking the for you k than We ies. which benefits all part build a sustainable and secure industry you. from forward to hearing time to read this and as indicated look

We sent this to a number of contractors and we can now report - it’s worked! We have our first contractors confirmed as supporting in principle the establishment of an Inshore Diving Agreement. These contractors have confirmed acceptance of the provisional ‘draft’ agreement (with a few tweaks) which we have shared with them. This will of course be subject to change as more contractors consider our proposals and look to influence what a final ‘agreed’ document might look like. It will also require the support of a good number of contractors, so the work goes on.

We are working behind the scenes, we just can’t report everything as it’s happening as it could undermine discussions and could scare some companies off.

The DOG.

The Inshore DOG.

3

Inshore Divers Survey Results In December 2021 we gave you a survey asking six short questions which the “Divers Organising Group” (the DOG) felt could give us direction for our campaign to establish a collective bargaining structure. We got all the results just before Christmas, but we thought we’d let you enjoy the break before we came to you for reactions. Have a look at the results and get your comments to us.

The first point to make is about the numbers taking part, there was just short of 100 divers completing the survey. This is down a good bit from the 400+ that participated in our last survey, but we think work commitments and the festive break probably had an impact. It’s still a good number though and the responses are interesting.

The DOG has selected a few standout points which will provide us with some direction, we expect you’ll make your own mind up.

1. Are current pay rates fair?

A resounding 76% said NO, with the remainder indicating there was a mix of good and bad. No prizes for guessing this one, pay rates were one of the big-ticket issues for our campaign.

2. What would be a ‘fair’ rate of pay? With 56% indicating between £220 and £280 per-day, and a further 41% opting for over £280 per-day, we get the picture! We would welcome reports from divers currently below what is seen as a minimum, that’s below £220 a day, as we want to map rates across the sector.

3. We asked about the ‘worst sector’ for divers and the general view was that sectors vary. However, we got some very interesting feedback in the comments section for this question, information that we will use in our approaches to employers.

4. We asked you if you preferred to work for ADC companies. The responses speak for themselves, with less than 15% indicating ADC was a preference. It appears the ADC doesn’t influence the diving community as much as they would like to think, so a learning for them perhaps.

5. We’ve heard that tax, and specifically the IR35 rules were beginning to impact on divers, but the results suggest it may not be as major an issue as we first thought.

Please let us know where the problems are and we can look to get legal advice that might assist you.

6. Training and having to hold different certification has also been raised regularly, but again the responses received came as a surprise. Just over 63% indicated no difficulties with training? What did stand out in the comments was an obvious call for standardisation between Opito and GWO training and we will continue to campaign around this issue.

Please take some time to look through the survey results and please do send us comment and feedback. rmtidog@gmail.com Your DOG will take onboard your contributions as we continue to develop a strategy to secure negotiating rights for Inshore Divers.

Many thanks to all those that participated and especially to those who took time to provide comment.

Keep the information coming!

Many thanks, The DOG

4

Inshore & Civils Divers Survey 2021 – the results 1. Do you believe your current rates of pay across the sector are fair?

76.6%

said for the most part –

23.4%

NO

said there is a mix of good and bad

We expect there will be debates between employers and divers about these figures, but there is one point that has to be made – NOT A SINGLE DIVER ANSWERED YES!!!

2. What would you consider to be a reasonable scale for a day rate in the industry?

2.13%

said between £160-£220 per day

56.38%

said between £220-£280 per day

41.49%

said a min. of £280 and above

You can do the sums, crunch the numbers and when you’re finished you can’t avoid the obvious outcome – less than 3% of divers think it is reasonable to be paying less than £220 per day!

How much are you being paid? Let us know.

3. Is there a specific sector of Inshore/Civils diving operations where pay and conditions are significantly worse than others? said

72.34%

27.66% YES

said the sectors vary but no specific sector is significantly worse than any other

We invited comments on this question and received 36 contributions, thanks to those that took the time. There were some really useful indicators in the comments from fish farms to sewage works, regions like South Wales accused of low rates, as well as London, and smaller contracts. The one that made us smile was comment 23.

“It’s just all shit!”

4. When deciding on whether to accept work do you... prefer to work for % ADC companies

14.89

20.21%

accept offers of work from any company, ADC or not

64.89%

only consider work offers from companies paying above a certain rate

Are you thinking the same as we are – the ADC have a job of work to do! The thing is, we can help ADC improve their image, but they will have to put more effort into working with us to make that happen. There’s not a lot of effort being shown by ADC right now.

5. Have you encountered problems with the application of IR35 working in the sector?

10.64%

said YES, with ADC member companies and non-ADC companies

89.36%

said NO, they haven’t encountered any IR35 problems

We threw in the IR35 question as it came up regularly at meetings as an issue, but the figures suggest it’s not having any significant impact .... yet! Keep us updated on this one, if you start getting grief with employers or the dreaded Tax Man let us know.

6. Have you experienced difficulties with training standards/certification in the sector?

36.17% said YES

63.83%

said NO

This is another question that was generated from meetings and we asked for comments. Thanks also to the near 40 returns we got on this one which confirm what we thought – you want certificates that are acceptable across industry! Quite rightly you are sick of having to fork out for more training that doesn’t add any value to your competence or safety. Look out for a special feature on this subject in the next couple of weeks.

5

FEEDBACK ALWAYS WELCOME Around the summer last year we (the DOG) were contacted by an individual who we’ll call “John” who wanted to share his opinions as a competent employer and safety advisor. Our ‘John’ made some valid points, but it was a long piece and we don’t have the space to share it here. We can let you read our response though, it lets you see the work that’s going on behind the scenes.

Feedback on what’s right and wrong is welcome Dear John, It’s great to hear that the DOG’s end goals are shared by a member of the industry.

The current push for union representation by members of the inshore diving industry has evolved out of a long term and historic dissatisfaction with working conditions, standards and pay by those very same members. The inshore diving industry now has union representation, and it is on the advice of RMT that we are all working towards establishing an Inshore Diving Industry Agreement (IDIA). The IDIA will be modelled on the current Offshore Diving Industry Agreement (ODIA) which the union has experienced great success with and, more importantly, all ODIA participants (Divers, Contractors and Clients) report satisfaction with.

The messages and posts that ‘Divers’ put out onto social media was very much the driving impetus behind the formation of the Diving Organisers Group (DOG). The DOG acts as a focal point for communication from diving members of the inshore industry to RMT; as well as offering advice on specific work practices. The DOG cannot be held responsible for individuals’ opinions broadcast on social media platforms. It is also worth noting that social media and the communication access it gives to divers historically, geographically, separated - is perhaps the single reason for the success enjoyed by this movement so far. Especially when compared to past attempts at unification.

In response to: “…easiest way is for divers not to work for those with sub-par standards and to report”.

This is a point of view that has really angered the members the DOG represent. Reports and comments that the DOG have received suggest this is an accepted mentality shared by contractors across the industry.

It could be argued that it is this mentality - “If you don’t like it … leave”- that has contributed to many contractors disregarding any legislation not specific to

Diving in their project planning, operation and execution (such as The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 L24). It promotes a working environment where reporting is actively discouraged for fear of losing work or a divers’ position within the dive team.

We would hope you would agree that; Divers and contractors should experience the same basic - legal standards of welfare and working conditions enjoyed by counter parts in other industries within the UK. In addition to mirroring those enjoyed by colleagues and counterparts abroad.

The DOG is more than willing to hear and discuss alternatives to the current ADC supervisor scheme.

Communication received by the DOG from across a range of media platforms confirms that this is another key point of dissatisfaction for workers within the industry.

Regarding the Newsletter issued in May. The target audience of the newsletter was primarily the members RMT and DOG represent. The images featured were selected from amongst competition entries submitted to the DOG. We welcome the opportunity to discuss the “poor environmental protection and safe-guarding” you spotted further.

Ultimately the DOG would like to thank you for taking the time to open this channel of communication. It is a shared mindset of RMT and DOG to adopt and encourage a holistic approach to seek improvement in the issues that have been raised by the population of workers within the inshore diving sector.

Since before its official formation, it has very much been the mentality of the DOG that ‘a rising tide raises all ships’. As referenced earlier with the ODIA; Improvements in working practices, standards and welfare will translate into increased satisfaction to all industry parties.

Yours dutifully The Divers Organising Group.

So, there you have it, your DOG News is reaching people across the sector and we welcome all feedback, good, bad or indifferent. One key thing to remember though; not everything you read on social media sites that we use reflects the views of the DOG, or the members we represent. We can’t be held responsible and would never condone the comments used to attack individuals or contractors. Information we receive will always be checked, and where necessary we will challenge individuals or contractors directly, and not on a social media site! If we get anything wrong in the DOG News, the right of reply is available to all.

6

“What do you mean I can’t claim for my lunch?!”

DID YOU KNOW... ?

Most of you should know the game when it comes to tax and what is deductible, but here’s a few tips just in case.

normal place of work for a period of at least 10-hours.

• Late evening meal rate (irregular late finishers) – a rate of up to £15 can be paid if you have to work later than your usual working hours.

Tax 101 Gym – 100% membership, home weights, squat rack, TRX. All fits the bill for maintaining that V02 Max test each year at your medical. The grey area comes when you pay for swimming, club sports etc. and even gym kit. You could claim a percentage of these costs but be prepared to fight your battles, sometimes it’s best to take the easy wins.

HMRC simplified food allowance • Breakfast rate; a standard of £5 can be paid if you are leaving the house earlier than usual and before 6am.

• One meal rate (5-hour rate) – a standard rate of £5 can be paid if you are away from home or your normal place of work for more than 5-hours. Pretty sure none of us get contracted for a 5-hour day, but use your discretion.

• Two meal rate (10-hour rate) – a standard rate of £10 can be paid if you are away from home or your

So should you leave home/hotel before 6am and arrive home after a 10+ hour day, with an irregular/late finish you could claim a total of £30 for that day. You will not have to provide your receipts unless audited.

These could consist of a quick Tesco meal deal, or your monthly supermarket shop from which you make lunch boxes.

Networking and business meals, what qualifies as a business meal expense? If the meal is directly related or associated with the conducting of a trade or business, it qualifies and can be claimed back as a deduction.

PPE Hard hat, boots, these are both tax/vat exempt. No matter what it says on the web site, ring them up and explain you are self employed and ask them to remove the tax/vat. Bear in mind the statement below and it only applies to “Boots”, so no shoes or trainers!

“The protective boots and helmets must be manufactured to the standards which satisfy the requirements of Regulation 8(2) of the Personal Protective Equipment Regulations 2002” Dry suits, overalls, jackets, hat liners – obviously under-suits – now this gets interesting. Rock up to 0’three/ND and grab an under-suit, yep hold on to the receipt but say you don’t like them, they don’t fit, it’s too hot in the summer, it chaffs. Grab some base layers from mountain warehouse …. maybe some football socks, a Nike dry fit top, and some posh “step one” boxers – nobody likes dry suit pinch. Some could say

that the gym clothes you didn’t put through (because you’re picking your battles) would qualify as an under suit – how odd? Just be sure that you purchase similar items and materials when you need to replace these items, obviously!

Vehicles Cars and goods vehicles first 10,000 miles 45p; cars and goods vehicles after 10,000 miles, 25p; Motorcycles 24p.

This must be recorded in a vehicle log book daily with your work journeys/mileage, or add your total fuel, MOT, insurance, tax, maintenance and repair costs into one figure then separate your work and social use by percentage. For example; your annual vehicle costs are £1,000 although you use the car 50/50 business/social your work mileage far exceeds your social mileage, therefore you would claim 80% work 20% social. Making a tax deduction of £800 (80%).

Don’t forget your vehicle depreciation either. You can claim one of the following; • The full value of the car’s first year allowances • 18% of the car’s value (main rate allowances) • 6% of the car’s value (special rate allowances) It’s best to head over to https://www.gov.uk/capitalallowances/business-cars and work through your year, make, model to see what you can claim for.

Let’s not forget your mobile. 75-25% work/social, with that RMT chat being constantly busy. Likewise that includes your handset and we need insurance too.

Finally, your RMT union subscription is also partly tax deductible.

Be part of it or be left behind!

7

We’ve reported previously about the DOG meeting with the HSE to discuss issues and we will be meeting them again. A topic we want to push is combined workshops for divers, employers and the regulator, all together in the room to talk safety and welfare. We are building a working relationship with HSE and here’s an article from their “Chief Inspector of Diving”, Judith Tetlow.

HSE and diving HSE’s mission is to prevent death, injury and ill-health in Great Britain’s workplaces. For the diving industry those workplaces range from very small, short duration locations with very little infrastructure to large scale construction or major hazard sites.

The HSE diving group has responsibility for regulating all aspects of diving at work. All the inspectors in the group are divers and come from a variety of backgrounds, covering most of the different industry sectors. The inspectors provide advice to clients and diving contractors, conduct inspections, and investigate incidents and complaints.

Information about where diving projects are being conducted comes from a variety of sources but given that there is no requirement to notify HSE of any planned diving projects, it is not always easy to know when and where such activities are taking place.

Inspectors simply cannot get to every dive project around the country, but will undertake a range of inspections based on factors such as being a newly notified diving contractor, the type of project being undertaken, the nature of the diving techniques being used, etc.

As well as site inspections, HSE will conduct office inspections of diving contractors and their clients. During these visits inspectors will review company procedures and records of diving projects previously undertaken and will inspect plans for any future work.

Divers and others involved in diving projects may have concerns about

certain aspects of the work they are involved with. If this is the case, they should try to discuss and resolve the issues on site. That may not always be something they feel able to do, or it may not resolve the problem. In such cases, there is an option to contact the HSE with their concerns.

! h t i d u J s Thank

There is information about how to report an issue to HSE on the website1. This also provides a link to an online form2 to use. If you can’t use the form, you can phone 0300 003 1647. The lines are open Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 5pm (Wednesdays 10am to 5pm).

Concerns can be raised anonymously and can be recorded as nondisclosable which would mean that HSE would not disclose that a complaint had been made when following things up.

Once a concern is raised and is passed to the diving group, we assess if it’s something we should look into. Depending on the nature of the complaint, the location and duration of the job, HSE inspectors may contact the company by phone or may carry out a site visit. HSE won’t always look into the problem, if for example, it’s not something we are responsible for, or we don’t have enough information to make an assessment on what is wrong, who is doing it, where and what law applies.

There may be times when an

individual feels unable to submit a concern themselves, and on these occasions, they may provide the information to their union representative who would then forward this to HSE. Whilst this is an option, it means that HSE may get insufficient detail to carry out an assessment. This may affect the decision to investigate or delay the process, meaning that the project may be finished before any action can be taken by HSE. By providing your name and contact details, inspectors can talk with you directly and gather as much information as possible from you. This also means that you can be provided with feedback on what, (if any) action has been taken.

The HSE diving group is committed to helping ensure that the health and safety of all divers at work is protected, and that all those involved in diving projects understand and fulfil their responsibilities.

1

https://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/tell-us-about-ahealth-and-safety-issue.htm 2 https://services.hse.gov.uk/concernform/

8

This member asked us to run his story in the hope none of you reading this has to go through the same pain and cost!

Bin your rods please!

We were working on a site before Christmas and we received the standard site brief etc. and signed all the relevant documentation required by the client and by the company, then we had our own tool-box-talk (TBT) and brief about the job in hand.

Day one passed without any drama, but it was a long day due to time constraints on the job.

Day two started with the TBT and I spoke to the guys who dived the day before to find out how the job had been left. I wanted to know if there was anything to look for so I could pick up directly where they left off.

The lads said that the bed consisted of large amounts of builder rubble; housing bricks, large bits of concrete, lots of whole glass bottles along with broken glass, a discarded bike and other metal work. Basically, the bed was Type-1 material and smaller, so the excavation was done by hand as the airlift and airline weren’t moving the material at all.

After a couple hours clearing more bed material and expanding the search, I was coming up on my time. I was clearing some of the smaller material by brushing it clear with my hand and I momentarily lost vis. As I moved my hand back, I felt something which I thought had penetrated my glove? It wasn’t until I moved it to see that I felt the metal rod which I could see was quivering in my hand!

The Dive supervisor saw on the hat cam the metal rod coming out of my right hand (which was later identified to be an old welding rod). I felt the tenders come tight on my umbilical and followed it back to the ladder.

Once on the deck, my hat and umbilical were off and the dive supervisor was there with a first-aid kit.

Due to the length of the rod in my hand it needed to be cut down to allow the bell jacket to be removed.

Once the jacket was off, the 5mm Kevlar reinforced glove was cut off to expose the wound which, due to the water being cold, wasn’t bleeding a lot.

It was clear this was going to be a trip to the local A&E, so the wrist seal of the dry suit was also cut to let me change into dry clothing. I was then driven by one of the site staff and another member of the dive team to A&E. Once at A&E and checked in, I was seen by a nurse and it wasn’t long before it was x-rayed to check for any damage to bones, ligaments or tendons. Thankfully none had been sustained so it was a case of the rod being removed under gas and air with a local anaesthetic in the hand.

Once out, the wound was cleaned thoroughly before being bandaged up and this was followed by a double dose of tetanus and a course of antibiotics to combat infection.

I was referred to plastics and a hand specialist at my local hospital. It was decided I required day surgery with an ulna block on the hand and then a deeper clean out and the removal of infected tissue. The wound was left open just in case of further infection and for the ease of cleaning if it needed to be done again.

Another couple of courses of antibiotics were required and of course an early finish to my working year due to the high risk of reinfection. After a month off, to allow it to heal over the Christmas period, I’m healed up and now back to work.

Bin your used rods lads, I wouldn’t wish this crap on another diver!

Details provided.

9

RMT was at the “Bergen International Diving Seminar” in November 2021 telling dive companies, regulators, standards bodies and anyone else who would listen, it was time to engage with Divers!

Engage divers to drive improvement RMT were invited to address the International Diving Seminar in Bergen, Norway on the 9th and 10th of November last year.

Regional Organiser, Jake Molloy, used the platform to tell the 200+ delegates that the industry had to do better with engagement of the divers and support staff. Jake argued there

was widespread under reporting of incidents and accidents, as divers believed their employment prospects would suffer for reporting or challenging bad practice.

Jake used a quote from Lord Cullen and his findings after the Piper Alpha inquiry which claimed the lives of 167 men. He told delegates that the future

of diving could be threatened by a serious accident. He suggested managers really needed to know what was going on to learn from events and prevent a serious accident, and divers needed to know their voices were being heard. Since the event the industry and standards bodies have committed to work with RMT to drive improvement in reporting.

When the DOG was contacted in early January by a couple of members who hadn’t been paid for a job they did in Romania in early December, we called on the officers of RMT for help.

If you don’t pay we are coming your way!

Two of our members had gone to work for a diving contractor off Romania in November last year and when the invoice for the first part of the job was paid all looked good for our guys. However, things turned bad when they returned home to find that almost $10,000 had not been paid on completion of the job. Calls were not being answered and emails were being ignored. The members asked the DOG for help and we spoke to RMT officers.

A letter was dispatched to the Director of the company kindly requesting that our members were paid for their services. The letter also indicated that if the payment wasn’t made the RMT would be forced to contact the Flag State of the vessel, as well as the International Transport Federation (ITF) and of course the main client of the contractor. It was highlighted that RMT would seek the assistance of ITF Trade Union affiliates around the world to support RMT in seeking to address these failings. Our members were delighted to receive the full payment of their invoices a few days later.

The reach of RMT is significant and their influence is global. It may not work every time, as we know contractors can just disappear in regions like Africa and south America. But where a vessel is used and we have names, dates, times and client details, RMT can apply considerable pressure.

We want to hear from you NOW!

You set the agenda for the meeting.

What’s right. What’s wrong. We need to hear from you.

The ‘BIG ZOOM’ – February 16th 7pm

LOOK OUT FOR JOINING DETAILS Contact DOG: Email:

rmtidog@gmail.com

Facebook: UK Commercial Divers https://www.facebook.com/groups/370509183579352/ Discord: The Inshore Diving Industry https://discord.gg/U7Q5KhYDPa LinkedIn: inshore-dog-rmt http://www.linkedin.com/in/inshore-dog-rmt

10