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BOSSES building two aircraft carriers for the Navy at Rosyth have been accused of laying off Scots workers while hiring cheap labour from abroad.

Many pipefitters and welders from Scotland have been shown the door in recent weeks – at the same time as more Polish and Romanian workers arrive to join the more than 400 already on the site.

A Daily Record investigation has found that Poles hired for the £6.2billion project face gruelling 67-hour-a-week shift patterns but take home 32 per cent less pay than many Scots doing the same job.

And Romanian pipefitters are clearing less than £2000 for a month’s work, while Brits on the same job take home more than £3000.

Unions at Rosyth fear skilled Scots shipbuilders are being denied jobs because they earn more than their counterparts from overseas.

They are also concerned that the Polish and Romanian workers are being exploited. They are flown in and out of Scotland to work and are housed in cramped temporary cabins while here.

Concerns have been raised about the contracts the overseas workers are expected to sign.

Poles are being told to work 67 hours a week, and Romanians 58 hours with no overtime.

Pat Rafferty, Scottish secretary of Unite the Union, told the Record: “I would like an urgent investigation of what is going on at Rosyth.

“It seems there is clear exploitation of migrant workers, to the detriment of indigenous workers who are being denied jobs.

“To me, it beggars belief that workers being contracted to do 67 hours a week will not result in a breach of the European Working Time Directive.

“My plea to these workers is to get in touch with Unite and we will take up any exploitation case for them.”

The Aircraft Carrier Alliance, made up of the Ministry of Defence and engineering companies Babcock, BAE and Thales UK, deny that the wages being paid to the foreign workers are unlawful.

And main contractors on the project claim they need to hire from abroad because of a skills shortage in Scotland.

But one laid-off Scot said he was furious that he has lost his job at a time when new overseas workers are arriving.

One recruitment agency who supply staff to the yard told the man last week that he was no longer needed at Rosyth.

He said: “I was told I was one of 20 pipefitters getting paid off.

“I accept that contract work can dry up quickly, but it’s galling to see Poles and Romanians working 12-hour days for way less than they should be getting.

“We’re all doing the same job for Babcock. But the way the wages are channelled through employment agencies and umbrella companies means it’s a lottery what you end up with.

“The Romanians are getting shafted, but they’re happy because clearing £8.50 an hour is way better than they earn it home.

“That doesn’t mean it’s right. It’s cheap labour and it’s bad for everyone – except the agencies that take a cut of the wages.

“The Poles have refused to work on the site a few times because there have been efforts to reduce the terms of their contracts.

“There’s a potential for this to get very divisive, but the workers have kept on good terms up to now.”

Another worker said: “It is accepted that the sheer scale of the project meant the bosses needed to look overseas to plug a skills gap.

“But they brought over hundreds of workers. And when work has dried up on parts of the project, it’s the Scots who’ve been losing out.

“There are guys completing sections of the ships at Govan who are hoping to come over to Rosyth but are being told there’s no work.”

Jim Moohan, chairman of the shipbuilding and engineering unions in Scotland, said local union conveners had challenged bosses over cheap labour.

He said: “They were assured no workers would be treated differently on account of their nationality.

“We’ll be monitoring the situation. We won’t tolerate any instances of wage discrimination at Rosyth or any other yards.”

European Union rules say all agency workers have the right to earn equivalent pay to core workers – once they have been on the job for 12 weeks.

We have learned that Romanian workers being hired for the carrier project are asked to sign three-month contracts, before returning home and signing another three-month contract on a rolling basis.

The EU rules add that any deductions from wages for the costs of travel or accommodation should be clearly defined in a contract signed before the job starts.

If the rules are breached, the main contractor is responsible. Tribunals can issue fines of £5000.

There are around 1800 trade workers on the MoD site at Rosyth and about a quarter of them come from elsewhere in the EU.

A spokesman for the Aircraft Carrier Alliance promised action if EU rules are breached.

He said: “We have sought, and gained, reassurance from our suppliers that they comply with all relevant legislation, including the agency worker regulations.

“We will continue to carry out the necessary checks with our suppliers to ensure this is the case. And we will take appropriate action to rectify any discrepancies if they are brought to our attention.”

The spokesman insisted that all companies working for the Alliance complied with the European Working Time Directive, which says workers shouldn’t do more than 48 hours a week on average.

The average is worked out over a period of 17 weeks.

“In terms of the Directive, the safety and wellbeing of all our workers is our prime concern,” the spokesman said.

“We require all our contractors and agents to comply with it. All our suppliers have assured us they have systems in place to closely monitor and manage this.”

Work on the two carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, began in 2009. They

were built in sections at yards around the UK before being put together at Rosyth.

Queen Elizabeth was launched last year and is due to be in service by 2020. Prince of Wales is still being built.

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