A woman hired to work as a beautician on an Irish Ferries ship for just over €1 an hour is to leave the vessel after a confidential agreement was reached.
Salvacion Y Ortenero Orge, from the Philippines, had refused to leave the MV Isle of Inishmoreafter details of her contract emerged last week. The exact details of the settlement were not disclosed, but it is understood Ms Ogre has received €25,000.
Ms Orge (44) began working on the ship on a wage of €355 a month. Her contract stipulated that she work a 12-hour day and get three days off each month. She had been recruited through an international agency, CF Sharp Crew Management.
When the details emerged publicly, both the agency and Irish Ferries sought to have the contract cancelled and Ms Orge repatriated to the Philippines.
However, Siptu said it had taken Ms Orge as a member and sought to negotiate appropriate terms and conditions for her continued employment.
In a statement this afternoon, Irish Ferries confirmed an agreement had been reached between the company, Siptu and Ms Orge, "the details of which all parties have agreed to keep confidential".
"The effect of this agreement will be that Ms Salvacion Y Ortenero Orge will leave the vessel Isle of Inishmoreupon its arrival in Rosslare at 18.45 this evening.
"The agreement was reached following talks which took place on board the vessel on its voyage from Rosslare to Pembroke this morning at which Irish Ferries' director of human resources Alf McGrath, Siptu representatives and Ms Salvacion Y Ortenero Orge were present."
Siptu representative Mr Paul Smyth said Ms Orge was "very happy" with the deal.
He said it highlighted the problems created by outsourcing staff on other Irish Ferries ships such as the MV Normandy.The union has served strike notice on the company over this issue.
Mr Smyth said the only reason Ms Orge's situation had come to light last week was because there were Irish officers and staff on board who were members of Siptu. The union had "no idea" what terms and conditions staff on the MV Normandyare being employed under, he said.
Two other Filipinas who were hired to work on the MV Normandyon similar contracts to Ms Orge's are believed to have returned to the Philippines. They had not benefited from independent advice or union intervention on their behalf because the contracted staff on that ship are not members of a trade union here.
"The only reason this whole set of circumstances came to light is because the officers and ship's staff were not outsourced," Mr Smyth said.
All staff on the Normandyare now outsourced through agencies. Many of them are from eastern European countries.
"We have no way of knowing what they are being paid or even if they are being paid minimum wage," Mr Smyth said. "It's appalling and the problem is that this [Irish Ferries] is a public company."
He said he believed other ferry companies were now engaging in similar outsourcing practices with no transparency in terms of workers' pay and conditions.