***Trawlers treat illegal migrants ‘like slaves’
Union says up to 700 people face long hours and low pay in Irish waters, writes John Mooney
A GLOBAL organisation which represents mariners and seafarers believes that as many as 700 migrants are working illegally in the fishing and seafood sector.
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITWF) said some immigrants were being treated like slaves on board trawlers, where captains force them to work long hours in harsh conditions for low pay.
Ken Fleming, the ITWF spokesman, accused the authorities of ignoring what he described as “modern-day slavery” to ensure continued growth in the fishing sector.
The government is trying to expand the fishing and seafood industry as part of its Food Harvest 2020 strategy. The sector currently generates €700m annually, but the government hopes to increase this to €1bn by 2020, with a 78% increase in production.
Fleming said immigrants were effectively being trafficked to Ireland to make the fishing industry commercially viable. He said trawler captains now relied on cheap labour to operate boats which were expensive to run with strict limits on the amount of fish they could catch.
“These people are being exploited.
Migrant workers have been injured out at sea and just left on the docks when they returned to port because they could no longer work. They are too scared to do anything because they are often working here illegally and don’t speak English,” said Fleming.
“Not only are they forced to work up to 18 hours a day, some are also used to paint houses and do other work for little or no pay on their days off,” he added.
The ITWF spokesman said migrant workers were sometimes forced to live in substandard accommodation, with four sleeping to a room on bunk beds.
The use of cheap labour on fishing vessels was highlighted two years ago after the sinking of the Tit Bonhomme, a trawler which sank off the Cork coast with the loss of five lives in 2012. Gardai were actively searching for Said Alieldeen, a 22-year-old crew member who died when the trawler crashed into rocks in Glandore harbour.
Alieldeen had sought political asylum in Britain before travelling to Ireland. Gardai were trying to locate him to deport him when he drowned.
An official report into the tragedy found the vessel’s five-man crew, four of them Egyptian, had managed only four to five hours’ sleep in the 40 hours prior to the accident. The working hours breached European directives.
“When the victims of the Tit Bonhomme perished, no one seemed to ask why so many Egyptians were working on a trawler in Cork,” said Fleming.
The ITWF has drawn up a black list of fishing boats and companies involved in exploitation.
It has also identified two businessmen whom it alleges are trafficking migrants from countries with a long history of producing able seamen.
Fleming said the workers were lured to Ireland with promises of good working conditions and wages. He said the ITWF is providing legal assistance to immigrant fishermen who claim they have been the victims of such exploitation.
Simon Agoe, a Ghanaian national who now lives in Donegal, said he is trying to get paid for working on a trawler. “I was offered a job on a boat in November last which operates off the west coast. I was offered €500 a week, but I argued for €600, then they said I would get a share of the catch. I agreed and went to sea fishing for prawns,” said Agoe.
“When we returned to port, they just refused to pay me. They were supposed to send a cheque, but hang up every time I call. Now they say they won’t pay me,” said Agoe.
Foreign vessels are also said to be exploiting migrant workers. Last year, six Indonesian nationals were found in Dingle, Co Kerry, claiming they had “escaped” from a British fishing trawler on which they said they were forced to work 20-hour days.
FROM THE ETF:
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PRESS RELEASE
EUROPEAN TRANSPORT WORKERS’ FEDERATION
FEDERATION EUROPEENNE DES TRAVAILLEURS DES TRANSPORTS
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Brussels, 27 January 2014
STOP JEOPARDIZING JOBS IN EUROPEAN SKY
ETF demands a social dimension inside the Single European Sky in its second European Action Day on 30 January 2014
Following the call of the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), Air Traffic Management (ATM) employees are mobilising for a new European Action Day on 30 January 2014 to demand the establishment of a fair, cooperative and social Single European Sky (SES). Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs) and the entire ATM staff will hold parallel walkouts, rallies, meetings and strikes across Europe calling on the European Parliament to stop a never ending process of liberalisation and cost cutting in the ATM industry. ETF affiliates from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden and UK are participating in the Action Day.
On 30 January 2014, the Transport Committee of the European Parliament (TRAN) will vote on the package called SES2+ based on market principles, top-down approach and cost reductions, which would jeopardize safety and the number and quality of jobs.
François Ballestero, ETF Political Secretary states: “The ATCOs and the entire ATM staff are suffering from a performance scheme dominated by a continuing cost reduction and in which safety is not considered to be the first priority. We refuse cuts in staff. The Commission intends to unbundle support services, which are sometimes the core of the industry. ETF rejects this approach, which doesn’t take into account the integrated public service role of the ATM sector. ETF calls the TRAN Committee of the European Parliament to stop dogmatic liberalisation of the ATM industry”.
“If we oppose a unique model of Functional Airspace Blocks (FABs), it is because we believe the FABs must be based on strong cooperation and a bottom-up approach”, says Riccardo Rubini, Chair of the ETF ATM Committee. “We also ask the TRAN Committee to make the ‘human factor pillar’ binding in the future legislation. We are in favour of a SES that respects the jobs, the working conditions and the existing collective agreements. The ETF calls all ATM workers in Europe to join the Action Day on 30 January 2014”.
For further information, please contact François Ballestero, ETF Political Secretary, f.ballestero@etf-europe.org
FROM THE LEADER (SPAIN):
***AIR TRAVEL STRIKE DISRUPTION THIS WEEK
By Mark Nolan / 2014-01-26 12:43:17
The airways of the world may face disruption this week, after industrial action was called by the European representatives of 28 unions and over 14,000 controllers, ATCEUC. Air traffic controllers are protesting against plans from the European Commission to cut costs which they say will reduce safety in the skies.
As a result, industrial action was planned across Europe for the 29th of January, and the European Transport Federation (EFT) also called for a strike on the 30th of January.
Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria and Cyprus issued notice of their involvement, with action ranging from 15 minutes to days on end, but all of these plans are subject to change, and cancellation, as the dates creep nearer, the advice as always being to check with your airline.
In France, Air Traffic Controllers called for a 5-day strike from the 27th to the 31st, later to cancel this action but participate in the action on the 30th of January. They also have a meeting to discuss this on Tuesday the 28th.
In Germany, Lufthansa asked a Munich court to stop their air traffic controllers joining the strike, saying it was “political” and “illegal”. The industrial action here has been cancelled, but with no reason given by the unions.
One place not affected by the industrial action is the UK, where NATS chief executive, Richard Deakin, said, “NATS controllers will be working as usual in spite of the threat of industrial action in Europe. If the strikes go ahead we will work closely, as ever, with Eurocontrol and other European air navigation services to help keep people moving whenever possible.”
The obvious question might be why the UK are not taking part, and indeed why Spain is also not seen as an active participant. The answer to this question might become clearer when we see how controlling air traffic has changed in both countries, and how the UK is perhaps seen as the first testing ground for the future of air traffic control.
The National Air Traffic Control Services, or NATS, proudly boast how they are “Transforming the traffic management to optimise airport and airspace efficiency across the globe”, which is precisely what the European model aims to achieve.
Originally set up in 1962, as the National Air Traffic Control Services, bringing together responsibility for the UK’s existing military and civil Air Traffic Control services, the group has seen huge developments since their inception.
The Public-Private Partnership for NATS was proposed in June 1998, becoming a reality of the Transport Act 2000, when the Government chose the Airline Group as the preferred partner in March 2001 and the transaction was completed in July 2001 with the sale of 46% to the AG and the devise of 5% to staff. Although the Government retained the balance, the company was finally free of Treasury control.
Therefore, NATS is currently 49% owned by the British Government, 42% by an airline consortium formed by British Airways, Lufthansa, EasyJet, Monarch Airlines, Thomas Cook Airlines, Thomson Airways and Virgin Atlantic, as well as a 4% ownership by Heathrow Airport Holdings and the remaining 5% by NATS employees.
As a service provider, NATS now operate in over 30 countries around the world, from America to Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, not forgetting Europe. Here is Spain, with their roots in the UK operation spreading globally; it might be a surprise to learn that NATS now have control of 10 airport towers in Spain, including Valencia and Alicante.
Through a joint venture with the Spanish company Ferrovial, ferroNATS made history on Monday of this week, when the 07:05 Ryanair flight took off from Alicante-Elche airport bound for Manchester, the first flight to do so under the guiding wings of a British controller in the Spanish airport tower.
Privatisation of Spain´s air traffic was devised in 2011 by the then Minister of Development, José Blanco, resulting at the time in the greatest collapse of Spanish airspace in history, during one of the busiest holiday seasons. The privatisation of Alicante-Elche control started early last year, in order to ensure that the controllers were fully trained before this coming summer season.
The new model of Alicante-Elche sees 12 controllers operating in the tower, compared to the 20 before privatisation, with only 4 of the original Spanish staff remaining. The majority of NATS brought-in controllers are from the UK, mostly with military training, some brining experience from busy locations such as Gatwick and Heathrow.
When the anticipated savings for Alicante-Elche alone are seen as some 2 million euro per year, a similar for Valencia, with most of the savings being attributed to wages, the financial benefits are obvious.
FROM SHIP MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL, ALSO AFRICA OIL AND GAS NEWS:
***South East Asian maritime unions conclude action week against FOC ships
January 23, 2014
Dockers and Seafarers unions in the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia and Myanmar inspected a total of 34 merchant vessels flying flags of convenience (FOC), as ITF Unions concluded the South East Asian Week of Action from 13th to 17th January.Inspectors/contacts and union activists targeted merchant vessels to check for onboard crew conditions, employment contracts, safety and compliance of the Maritime Labour Convention which came into force in August 2013. Also under scan were ships without ITF acceptable agreements that stipulate decent and negotiated wages and ship board conditions for crew members.
In the Philippines, ITF affiliated Unions AMOSUP & PSU along with the dockers’ Unions led the inspections during the week. ITF Inspectors targeted 11 ships at the Davao port in southern Philippines which handles major agricultural cargoes including bananas and links the region to Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and the United States. Unions are now following up with owner companies to prevail upon them to sign ITF approved agreements. During the inspections they also attended to individual crew grievances relating to sickness wages, crew having exceeded contract periods and not repatriated back home, etc.
In Singapore a total of 17 vessels were inspected during the week. Efforts are on to contact the ITF Union in beneficially owned countries to assist in covering the crew on board these vessels with regulated collective agreements. Inspection teams also visited Australian flagged Pacific Raider 4, a fishing vessel which lies abandoned since September 2013. Of the original 16 Indonesian and Vietnamese crew only four are left onboard. Crew wages have not been paid since December 2012.
In Indonesia, action was subdued as adverse weather conditions with heavy flooding in Jakarta prevented access to the Tanjong Priok port. Only six vessels could be inspected.
Similarly in Thailand, in spite of preparations, due to political tensions in and around Bangkok, the week of action activities had to be abandoned at the last moment in consultation with the participating Unions.
Commenting on the action week programme, Sangam Tripathy, Assistant Regional Secretary, ITF Asia Pacific said: “This week’s action helped identify many German owned vessels trading in the region without ITF approved agreements on board for the crew. Some of these ships had never been inspected before. We hope to follow up with the concerned companies so that they sign up their vessels with ITF approved agreements regulating work and wage conditions”.
FROM BUNKER PORTS NEWS, ALSO AFRICAN OIL AND GAS NEWS:
***ITF moves to arrest vessel Isis at Tilbury
Friday, 24 January 2014 | 10:00
The ITF has initiated arrest proceedings on behalf of the crew of the Marshall Islands-flagged M/S Isis, which is moored at Tilbury, England and whose crew are owed at least USD130,000 in pay. The decision to arrest the vessel follows the delivery of a written warning to Athens-based company Derna Carriers over its negligence and evasion of its responsibilities.
ITF UK and Ireland coordinator Ken Fleming explained: “A visit to the Isis by myself and my colleague Darren Procter revealed that crew members had been unpaid for months. On the 3rd January Derna had sent an email to the ship stating clearly that all money would be paid to the full crew by the 7th January. This did not happen.
“Since then, the company has utterly failed to abide by its responsibilities. A few crew members have received paltry payments since our visit on the 7th January – which I am sure was done to confuse the ITF and make it look like the crew were not telling the truth. The situation remains that most of what is owed dates back to the 1st November – some two months and three weeks, and is clearly not forthcoming. This is totally unacceptable.”
He concluded: “I have been advised from the ship that all crew want to go home. The company’s litany of broken promises has left them feeling that no future exists for them on board the Isis, and they have decided to seek repatriation on the grounds that Derna have clearly breached their employment contracts. Given that the situation is deteriorating by the minute we have now moved to have the vessel arrested on behalf of the crew – quite simply no other course of action can now be taken, and the company will have to live with the costs and consequences of its own actions.”