"Contractor for major windfarm forced to deny ‘slave labour’ claims", 29 October 2018

Contracts seen by Energy Voice, the Press and Journal’s sister website, indicate a number of non-EU nationals on Seaway Heavy Lifting’s (SHL’s) Stanislav Yudin crane vessel have been earning below the national minimum wage.

SHL has denied allegations of underpaying foreign workers on the SSE-operated Beatrice Offshore Wind Farm project.

But Liam Wilson, an inspector for the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), described the situation as [...] “effectively slave labour”...

A spokesman for SHL said: “We can confirm that all personnel employed by SHL in connection with the Beatrice Offshore Windfarm project are paid at or above the UK minimum wage.

“We have been working closely with the Home Office and relevant industry bodies regarding industry-wide concerns raised around the employment of non-EEA nationals working in UK territorial waters.

“The Home Office granted a non-specific and industry wide concession in April of 2017, which was extended until April 2019 and we continue to work with the relevant authorities and industry bodies to ensure we meet all applicable regulations.” ...

A Scottish Government spokesperson said decisions on immigration concessions “are a matter for the Home Office”.