United Kingdom - A freighter which had already been detained following a Port State Control inspection by Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) surveyors in Cardiff, Wales, has been issued with a further detain-able deficiency notice after it was discovered the crew had not been paid for many months. The Malta-registered Svetlana has been in Cardiff since 8 October 2016. The MCA had suspended their inspection and detained the vessel for a number of deficiencies and returned when the owner claimed to have rectified matters. However, it was then discovered the the Russian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian crew had not been paid wages and a further deficiency notice was issued.
The MCA made a request for the International Transport Worker Federation (ITF) to board the vessel in order to aid the crew and assist with the calculation for owed wages. ITF inspector Tommy Molloy discovered that since the crew had joined, only small, infrequent cash payments had been received. Mr Molloy also discovered that wages were the lowest he had seen for a long time and were certainly below the International Labour Organisation (ILO) minimum referred to in the Maritime Labour Convention 2006. He calculated the wages owed at the ILO minimum level and submitted the claim to the company, along with other amounts for additional work for which payment had been promised but never materialized.
The crew had also been forced to purchase their own personal protective equipment such as safety footwear and overalls, before joining, which the ITF says is totally acceptable. The owners were invited to enter into discussion to sign an ITF agreement which would provide acceptable minimum employment standards for the crew. The company responded by accusing the inspector of acting illegally, of blackmail and by insisting they would only pay what was written on contracts, however low. Worse still, the ITF has learnt from maritime welfare organisations in Cardiff that the third officer has now been sacked. Tommy Molloy Commented
click here to read the original articel...
No comments:
Post a Comment