A North Sea recruiter has been blasted for posting a job advert which “unlawfully” discriminated against Polish workers.
The Scottish and UK Governments last night condemned Ryan Ship Management’s behaviour after it emerged the firm had publicised a notice stating they were looking to “avoid” Polish contractors “as much as possible”.
The behaviour was branded “unlawful” by officials, while an offshore union claimed it is “already pursuing” the matter.
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said the behaviour of the Mumbai-headquartered firm was “unacceptable and should not be tolerated”.
Jake Molloy, RMT Union’s offshore regional organiser, described the situation as “shocking on so many levels”.
He called for North Sea oil firms to “outlaw” these type of recruitment practices.
Ryan Ship Management, also known as Ryan Offshore, was formed in 2009.
Robin Tawari, the company’s director, did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
But he did issue an apology on job site LinkedIn, calling the words included in the advertisement “a huge mistake”.
Mr Molloy revealed there was a growing culture of prejudice offshore, especially from those companies looking to hire staff on cheap North Sea pay rates.
He said: “The blatant racist inference about avoiding Polish workers is appalling.
“This kind of recruitment should once and for all be outlawed by the oil companies operating in the sector.
“As if the racist and discriminatory aspects weren’t bad enough, the work cycle and pay rates also serve to illustrate everything that is wrong with the industry right now.
“Our members along with members of other unions are rightly opposed to three week working, this contract is for three-month working and for the pleasure of serving for three months you will be paid the princely sum of $137 US dollars a day.
“We need government intervention now to stop this scandalous race to the bottom.”
A UK Government spokesman said: “The law is clear – discriminating against people in the workplace on the basis of their race or nationality is unlawful and totally unacceptable”.