Cruise Controversy
By Maritime Union of Australia
"They take these jobs thinking they'll have time off to sunbake
by the pool. But they're lucky to see daylight."
This is how Jim Given, International Transport Workers' Federation
cruise campaign co-ordinator sums up how young idealistic, well
educated, middle class men & women are being seduced into slavery
on luxury liners cruising to exotic locations.
Suicide, sexual abuse, extortion, abandonment, bribery and beatings.
Jim Given estimates that little more than half of cruise ships
are unionised or covered by ITF agreements.
The ITF set up its cruise campaign office in Florida in June,
2000. A year down the track and the statistics speak for themselves:
5,000 claims processed on board Flag of Convenience liners; 2000
abandoned seafarers; US$5.4 million in backpay .
"All the cases we get are bad," said Given. "But perhaps the most
ugly are the sexual assaults. It's not what you think. Usually
men are both perpetrator and victim. It's only 3 per cent of complaints,
but like suicides, it goes largely unreported. We've known of
108 complaints of sexual assault from Carnival crew in three years
alone."
Most complaints involve low wages and long hours - 95.49% of crew
work 7 days a week, 60% work more than 10 hours a day."
Fatigue and stress translate into accidents on board. But when
they do get hurt the company does everything it can to get out
of paying compensation.
"When you see grown men and women cry it gets to you. No one deserves
to be shafted like that," he said.
"We're on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week," said Given.
"We've got to be. When you get the sack on one of these ships
armed guards escort you off."
Non payment of wages (29%), dismissal (25%) & abandonment (14%)
- these are the most common complaints. But fraud, graft and extortion
in the industry are also making headlines:
The Panamanian company SeaCruise was busted in Canada recently
for a scam involving 160,000 jobseekers paying $56 each for non
existent jobs on cruise liners, Fairplay shipping magazine reports.
"In Indonesia you pay up to US$2000 for a job on a cruise ship,"
he said. "In India it's US$3,500 & in Rumania it's US$500 for
an interview & another $1,000 for the job.".
Meanwhile the ITF, London has won $865,000 court costs and repatriation
for the 240 seafarers stranded in Dover aboard the cruise ship
Ocean Glory The 51-year old Panama-flagged ship was arrested for
wrongful termination of a charter party.
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