Last updated at 16:06, Friday, 01 June 2012

UP to 140 Barrow workers have had thousands of pounds taken out of their bank accounts in a pay day gaffe.

Crews working on three nuclear waste transfer vessels owned by Pacific Nuclear Transport Limited were yesterday(31/5) shocked to discover money had been taken out of their bank accounts in what has been described as a “glitch”.

Some of the workers and officers are believed to have had thousands of pounds taken out of their accounts, while others were left out of pocket by smaller amounts and some were only paid a small percentage of their expected monthly wage.

PNTL, a subsidiary of International Nuclear Services – which is itself part of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority – ships nuclear waste from Sellafield across the world.

The company operates three vessels; the Heron Pacific, Pacific Egret and Pacific Grebe, which are all based in Barrow.

A spokesman for INS yesterday(31/5) said: “Some people have been affected in varying degrees – some people weren’t paid and some have had money taken from their accounts. They will all get paid properly this afternoon and will be compensated in their pay.

“Over the next few weeks, PNTL will go into an analysis of each individual’s circumstances to ensure no one loses out or is under or overpaid.”

Yesterday’s pay error, believed to be the first of its kind to have affected the crews, took place on what was only the second pay day since the £3m ship management contract, which includes the payroll system, was handed to Hampshire-based government service company Serco. The work had previously been undertaken by Barrow shipping firm James Fisher since the 1960s when nuclear waste was first transferred from the docks.

Serco spokesman Charles Carr, who described the error as a “glitch”, said the company had “unreservedly apologised” to the workforce.

He said: “We did experience problems during the transfer of salaries. We have unreservedly apologised to those members of the workforce who have been affected and it was due to a simple error.”

Ship officers’ union Nautilus, which represents around 40 PNTL employees, was yesterday aware of the error.

Spokesman Andrew Linington said: “The union is satisfied the company has acted very quickly and is happy with the way the company has responded.

“The fact it has happened and so soon into the contract is a big concern for the employees. Certainly it’s something we will be having further discussions about and we will be in close dialogue with members.”

First published at 13:53, Friday, 01 June 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk