Global daily news 10.07.2014

***Maltese authorities asked to intervene in ‘kidnapping’ case

The Egyptian captain, a Croatian chief engineer and a Croatian officer of the deck have been held hostage on board the Togo-flagged ship at the western port city of Zuwara, Libya, for the past two months.

Togo-flagged Kara is owned by a Maltese company
In March, Magistrate Carol Peralta issued an arrest warrant for Farrugia after he failed to attend a court sitting to answer to charges of not paying the salaries of his employees.              The ship is owned by Daniel Farrugia, director at Dolphin Industrial Services Ltd (DIS). Repeated attempts to contact Farrugia by phone proved futile. According to Stjepanovic, the ship’s owner owes money to a Libyan businessman. He also alleged that the three men have not been receiving their salaries for the past months.
The Maltese authorities have been asked to intervene in an alleged kidnapping of an Egyptian and two Croatian seamen on board the ship Kara, owned by a Maltese company.

The Egyptian captain, a Croatian chief engineer and a Croatian officer of the deck have been held hostage on board the Togo-flagged ship at the western port city of Zuwara, Libya, for the past two months.

Informed sources confirmed that the Malta police have been asked to intervene and help free the three men. The sources however explained that the police’s powers could be limited since the ship does not fall under Malta’s jurisdiction.

Contacted by MaltaToday, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) also confirmed it was asked to intervene about a fortnight ago.

While providing very scant details, a spokesperson said the situation was “very delicate”, made more difficult by the poor channels of communication in Zuwara and the ongoing conflict.

Kidnapping in Zuwara is frequently reported in international media, the latest reported only three days ago when three European workers were captured by militias and freed two days later.

“We are doing our utmost to ensure the well-being of the men and for their possible repatriation,” a spokesperson for the ITF said.

Sources said the ITF has not yet managed to establish whether an arrest warrant had been issued against the vessel: “Carrying out investigations is very difficult with the ongoing conflict in Libya.”

Stevo Stjepanovic, a Croatian national who is trying to help free the workers, said the men were now running out of food and water and are constantly under the threat of armed men.

Although MaltaToday was not in a position to verify the reason behind the kidnapping, Stjepanovic said the men were being held for ransom.

“They are being held at gunpoint, as slaves of Libyan armed soldiers, because the ship’s owner owes money to a Libyan businessman,” Stjepanovic claimed.

A former crewing manager, Stjepanovic helped the three workers get a job aboard the Kara some time ago.






FROM ISWAN:


Having trouble viewing this email? Click here
Press Release ISWAN logo no stap

***SeafarerHelp assisted over 6,400 seafarers & their families in 2013

Follow us on Twitter
Thursday 10 July 2014                                           For Immediate Release
SeafarerHelp is the free 24 hour multi-lingual helpline for seafarers run by the not for profit organisation, the International Seafarers' Welfare Assistance Network (ISWAN).
ISWAN have just produced the 2013 Annual Review for SeafarerHelp. During 2013 the SeafarerHelp team dealt with problems involving over 6,400 seafarers and their families. There was a 35% increase in the number of new cases handled by the SeafarerHelp team, and an increase of 47% in the number of seafarers assisted compared to the previous year. The most common problems seafarers faced were upaid wages, problems with repatriation, contractual problems, sub-standard conditions on board and health issues.
Most of the contacts that SeafarerHelp receives are referred on to specialist organisations for direct assistance. These include the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) and welfare organisations such as Mission to Seafarers, Apostleship of The Sea, and the Sailors Society. Other agencies who assisted included national embassies, harbour authorities, and medical service providers.
Roger Harris, Executive Director of ISWAN said "The SeafarerHelp team did a great job in 2013 working 24 hours everyday of the year assisting seafarers. We wish to thank our funders and other supporters for helping us provide this vital lifeline for seafarers all over the world."
One case where SeafarerHelp provided assistance was to the pregnant wife of a Ukrainian seafarer who contacted SeafarerHelp to complain that her husband had not been paid for over three months and that she badly needed the money to prepare for the impending birth of their child. We soon established that her husband and the rest of the crew had been abandoned in South Korea by the ship owner, and the caller's husband agreed for us to refer his case to the ITF. The local ITF inspector boarded the ship and arranged for it to be arrested by the local authorities. The ITF also arranged for the seafarers to be repatriated to their respective countries. However, the seafarers could not be paid their outstanding wages until the vessel was sold by auction. In the meantime, the seafarer was very happy to go home and saw the birth of his baby. A few months later he and all his colleagues finally received their outstanding salaries when the vessel was sold.
The SeafarerHelp service relies upon charitable funding for its continued existence. If you are able to financially support SeafarerHelp, then please contact Roger Harris at iswan[at]iswan.org.uk.
The SeafarerHelp website is at www.seafarerhelp.org
The Annual Review can be downloaded from the ISWAN website and also from here.
The infographic can be downloaded from here.
Seafarers can contact SeafarerHelp 24 hours, 365 days per year, in the following ways:
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS

SeafarerHelp is funded by grants from The TK Foundation, the ITF Seafarers' Trust, & Seafarers UK




FROM THE ETUFS:



9 July 2014
***Youth Guarantee fails to fulfil its promises
The six European trade union federations (ETUFs) and their combined membership of 30 million workers who are powering the campaign “Enough of their crisis – back to our future”, are deeply concerned that the Italian Government, which has just this month commenced its Presidency of the EU, has cancelled the Inter-Ministerial Summit on Youth Employment planned to take place in Turin on 11 July.
The ETUFs see it as evidence that European politicians are ashamed of the dismal results in implementing the Youth Guarantee agreed by the Council in April 2013, and are responding with a twitter storm to make heads of state, Members of the European Parliament and the Commission accountable for their inactivity.
The Inter-Ministerial Summit was intended to follow those that took place in Berlin (July 2013) and Paris (November 2013).
According to the ETUFs, the cancellation of this meeting is nothing short of alarming, with Europe still in recession and persistent mass-scale youth unemployment in spite of modest recovery in some areas.
The modest 6 billion euros set aside over a seven-year period to implement the Youth Guarantee was always seen by the ETUFs as too little, too late. In a joint declaration in February 2014, the ETUFs state that with an estimated cost of 21 billion euros per year to set up an effective tool, and without any enforcement measures for implementation on national level, the EU’s promise remains far from adequate to tackle the youth unemployment crisis.
This week’s failure of European leaders to share any positive results of the Youth Guarantee is testimony to the accuracy of the ETUFs’ prediction. Leaders have called for more time, with the Summit postponed to the end of the year – a clear indication of the lack of political will to prevent a jobless generation.
Member States, together with the European Commission, must think harder about the design of the Youth Guarantee and prioritise direct and transparent measures to reduce youth unemployment, such as investing in new quality jobs.
The ETUFs will hope for more commitment from the European Parliament, which is likely to table a resolution on youth employment at its plenary session agenda on 16 July. Together with their respective youth organisations, the ETUFs will meet with the newly formed European Parliament groups later in the year to lay out their key demands to reclaim the rights of Europe’s youth.
Since their campaign launch in March 2014, the ETUFs have undertaken flash mobs in different European capitals to draw public attention to the critical situation for young workers in Europe, led a 50,000-strong European trade union demonstration and undertaken other isolated actions around Europe, spoken in the European Parliament, convened a press conference and penned a series of articles.
Media contacts




FROM EXPRESS (GERMANY):


***Schikane an der Tagesordnung Stewardess von Qatar-Airways: Der Job ist die Hölle
Eine Angestellte packt aus und erhebt schwere Vorwürfe gegen die Luxus-Airline Qatar.
Eine Angestellte packt aus und erhebt schwere Vorwürfe gegen die Luxus-Airline Qatar.
Foto: dpa
Berlin –
Über den Wolken soll die Freiheit grenzenlos sein – die Stewardessen der Fluglinie Qatar Airways erleben dort wohl eher die Hölle. Schikane, unwürdige Arbeitsbedingungen und Psycho-Terror sollen an der Tagesordnung sein.
Eine polnische Angestellte (25) packt aus und erhebt schwere Vorwürfe gegen die Luxus-Airline. In einem Brief an eine deutsche Zeitung schildert sie ihr angebliches Martyrium und das ihrer Kollegen – anonym. Zu groß sei die Angst vor Konsequenzen.
Die Stewardess behauptet, dass die Crew-Mitglieder in ihren Gruppenunterkünften ständiger Kontrolle ausgesetzt seien. Dazu sollen Überwachungskameras und Zimmerdurchsuchungen gehören. Außerdem sei Frauen der Kontakt zu Männern, mit denen sie nicht verwandt sind, verboten. Familienbesuche gestatte die Airline zweimal im Jahr.
Auch das Thema Heirat sei prekär: „Wir müssen fünf Jahre arbeiten, bevor wir uns überhaupt um eine Heiratserlaubnis bewerben dürfen“, schreibt die Angestellte. Angeblich drohe bei Schwangerschaft der Rausschmiss. Aus Angst um ihren Job würden Stewardessen sogar abtreiben.
Harte Vorwürfe, die Qatar Airways zurückweist. Schwangere Stewardessen würden einen Job beim Bodenpersonal bekommen, so Firmenchef Akbar Al Baker (52) zum „Handelsblatt“. Er nennt die Anschuldigungen „absolut unfair“.
Dennoch haben der Internationale Gewerkschaftsbund (IGB) und die Internationale Transportarbeiterförderung (ITF) bereits im Juni Klage gegen die Airline eingereicht.
Nun kommt der Fall vor die Internationale Arbeitsorganisation (ILO). Auch Verdi reagierte und rief zum Boykott von Qatar Airways auf. Steffen Frey, Rechtsberater der Unabhängigen Flugbegleiter Organisation, geht davon aus, dass die Klage keine Auswirkungen auf das Geschäft der Fluggesellschaft haben wird.
Frey zu unserer Zeitung: „Ihre Arbeitskräfte sind günstig – in der Luft und am Boden. Qatar Airways hat ganz andere Vorstellungen davon, wie man mit Angestellten umgeht.“




FROM THE LONDONDERRY SENTINEL:
***Plight of abandoned seafarers theme of ‘Sea Sunday’
  • Published on the 10 July
2014
10:16
Hundreds of Church congregations in the United Kingdom, including in Northern Ireland, will highlight the tragic plight of abandoned seafarers suffering in maritime ports all over the world this ‘Sea Sunday.’
In the UK alone, the Christian organisation Mission to Seafarers’ has witnessed some extraordinary cases of abandoned vessels in the last year, which caused untold misery and distress, with ships’ crews being left penniless in port, and lacking water, fuel and basic food supplies.
MtS provides essential emergency support to those seafarers who become the innocent victims of bankrupt shipowners and who can be stranded for months while long legal battles are fought to recoup costs and sort out the bills, which can run into £millions.
One such story is the MV Donald Duckling which was abandoned in the Port of Tyne in November last year.
The Filipino crew had little food and their vessel was deemed unsafe, with rumours circulating that the ship owner had gone bust.
They were even fishing over the side for their next meal. MtS stepped in straight away and looked after the crew by providing proper food, clothing and transport to shore so that they could contact their worried families.
The ship was stranded over Christmas which was particularly painful for the seafarers, with loved ones being so far away.
In other ports, such as in South America, Africa and East Asia, conditions on board can be even more desperate, with temperatures soaring to over 40C and inhuman conditions made worse by the risk of vermin and insect infestation.
The Revd Ben Humphries, MtS Port Chaplain in Mombasa, Kenya, said: “I helped one abandoned vessel called the MV Lanka Mahapola.
“It was in a terrible, filthy condition and not really seaworthy. The crew were short of food and thirsty. The men needed their wages to send home, so they were trapped on board.
“I managed to get them phone cards, arrange a regular supply of food and kept them company.
“No-one was there for them except the Mission and I put them in touch with the International Transport Workers’ Federation, the international seafarers’ union. It is appalling to think that abandonment can also happen in the UK.”
Sea Sunday is held in nearly every county in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, with services of thanksgiving and prayer to remember the hard work that seafarers undertake for British people, by bringing 90 per cent of all imported goods to these shores by ship, night and day, 365 days a year.
The Revd Andrew Wright, Secretary General, MtS, said: “These cases show the deep trauma of being stranded far away from home without a friend.
“The Mission is that vital connection to the port community for emergency help and support.
“We have teams monitoring the UK’s 166 local ports and further afield in a total of 71 countries across the globe; trained, caring professionals and dedicated volunteers, ready to assist seafarers in distress.
“But we can only do that through your generous donations. If you can, please hold a Sea Sunday event in 2014 to show thanks to those largely forgotten men and women, of every race and creed, working in often dangerous conditions, upon whom we all totally rely.”
If you want to find out more about Sea Sunday or would like to hold a Sea Sunday fundraising event in 2014 with your friends, just call us.
We provide great free materials to help you get started. Email Этот e-mail адрес защищен от спам-ботов, для его просмотра у Вас должен быть включен Javascript or go to our Sea Sunday website and download posters, fundraising leaflets, children’s activity sheets and notes: www.seasunday.org.
Please also join the conversation on Twitter #seasunday with @flyingangelnews.


FROM PARADISI (GERMANY):


***Freiheit nur über den Wolken - Qatar Airways reglementiert das Privatleben seiner Angestellten
Stewardess im Flugzeug überprüft Stauraum über Sitzen
Wer schwanger wird, fliegt aus der Firma. Heiraten ist nicht erlaubt. Wer gerade seine Uniform trägt, darf weder rauchen, noch Kaugummi kauen oder sein Handy benutzen. Auch eine Bar darf nicht betreten werden, selbst wenn das Crewmitglied keinerlei Alkohol trinkt und nur Wasser bestellt. Von solchen strikten Auflagen berichten immer mehr Angestellte der Fluggesellschaft Qatar Airways.
Die Internationale Transportarbeiterförderung (ITF) spricht von einer Atmosphäre voller Angst. Wird jemandem wegen einer dieser Regeln gekündigt, kann ihm passieren, dass er nicht nur den Job verliert, sondern obendrein Strafe zahlen muss. Wenn es ganz schlimm kommt, sitzen die Entlassenen wochenlang in Katar fest, weil sie auf ihr Geld warten. Die meisten Angestellten stammen aus dem Ausland.
Mitarbeiter berichten von gut überwachten Gemeinschaftsunterkünften, die niemand ohne Erlaubnis verlassen darf. Flugbegleiterinnen dürfen nur vom Ehemann, dem Vater oder einem Bruder zur Arbeit gebracht oder abgeholt werden, wenn sie nicht ein firmeneigenes Transportmittel nutzen.
Nur wenige Mitarbeiter sind länger als zwei Jahre bei Qatar Airways ohne gekündigt zu werden
Neben der IFT hat inzwischen auch der Internationale Gewerkschaftsbund (IGB) die menschenverachtenden Zustände bei Qatar Airways publik gemacht, ER hat die Vorkommnisse der Internationalen Arbeitsorganisation (ILO) gemeldet. Dass die Verweildauer der Mitarbeiter bei Qatar Airways in der Regel unter zwei Jahren liegt, ergibt sich unter diesen Voraussetzungen fast von selbst. Eine Stewardess erklärte, dass nur wenige länger durchhalten, ohne gekündigt zu werden.






FROM IRANIAN.COM:



***Day of action in support of jailed workers in Iran
Balatarin
Dear friends, The following is a letter from the "Free Them Now!" Campaign to Free Jailed Workers in Iran to ITF in regards to the critical situation of labour activist Reza Shahabi who is now in prison in Iran.
Please see below, also, the call for a day of action on July 12, 2014. There are events in several cities around the world on July 12. Let's be the voice of all jailed workers in Iran!
Regards,
- Shiva Mahbobi
--------------
To: The International Transport Federation (ITF)
You have been informed about the worrisome situation of Reza Shahabi, member of the executive committee of the VAHED Bus Union. Authorities of the Islamic Republic have transferred him to Rejai-Shahr Prison instead of taking him to hospital due to his urgent back bones problem. Since that date, June 1, Reza has been in a hunger strike. Reza has lost 12 kilograms since then.
Shahrokh Zamani, another worker leader who is kept in the same ward as Shahabi, has called on for an international campaign in support of Reza Shahabi; he is warning about Shahabi’s serious health situation and the risk of his life.
We know that your Federation has always supported the struggles of VAHED workers union and workers in Iran. We are aware of your support for detained VAHED workers and Reza Shahabi. We appreciate your worldwide support.
The situation, however, is urgent and we expect urgent action from your side. Your Federation acted urgently in 2006 and declared February 15, 2006 the International Day in Support of VAHED Union and imprisoned workers in Iran.We all witnessed the positive impact of this move. We are in the need of an action today. We expect you to put pressure on the Islamic Republic to allow Reza Shahabi to take leave from prison and receive immediate medical treatment.
We expect you to press for the immediate release of Reza Shahabi and all imprisoned workers. Reza Shahbi, the VAHED Union and Iranian workers need immediate international support. For your information these days it was reported that regime’s top prosecutor has ordered the prison authorities that Reza Shahabi have to be given a temporary leave for treatment. But the Ministry of Intelligence which runs the Iranian prisons has avoided his release.
We have already declared July 12 the day of international support for Reza Shabi, Sharokh Zamani, and Behnam Ebrahim zadeh in response to call from Behnam Ebrahim zadeh. These workers and their families have been under constant pressure and been threatened by the Islamic Republic security forces. We have but three more days. We were pushed to immediately call for such a day as urgent action is required. We expect your support for this international campaign.
Only an extensive, worldwide campaign can lessen the pressure over Reza Shahabi. We should assure him that we support his justified demands; then we can ask him to end his hunger strike.
We look forward to your prompt response.