[BITList] Fwd: [IrishSeaShips] NEWS: ITF alleges cheating of crew wages for ship docked at Liverpool

[Michael Feltham]

> You might be interested in this.  People ashore don't realise that this type of thing still

> goes on !

Mike
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> Begin forwarded message:
> 
>> Date: 10 October 2011 00:23:35 GMT+10:0
>> Subject: [IrishSeaShips] NEWS: ITF alleges cheating of crew wages for ship docked at Liverpool
>> 
>> 
> 
>> From Maritime Clippings:
>> 
>> ITF alleges cheating of crew wages for ship docked at Liverpool 
>> 
>> The ITF is alleging that the German operator of the 8,971GT
>> Gibraltar-flagged container vessel Philipp (previously known as the Beluga
>> Meditation) has been caught operating a double book-keeping system on the
>> vessel in order to cheat the Filipino crew of their rightful wages.
>> 
>> The alleged scam was discovered by ITF/Nautilus union inspector Tommy Molloy
>> during a routine inspection of the vessel in Liverpool. "We often suspect
>> double book-keeping is being operated on vessels we inspect", said Molloy,
>> "but it is unusual to get both sets of accounts - the fake accounts showing
>> what the crew should be getting paid, and the real accounts which show they
>> actually get paid approximately a third of what they should. I was also able
>> to get hold of home allotment records - showing wages paid into banks -
>> which were much less than those shown on the fake accounts. The amount of
>> wages the crew had been cheated of was over USD230,000.00." Confronted with
>> the evidence, both Vega Friedrich Dauber GMBH & Co KG and its subsidiary,
>> Vega Manila Crewmanagement Inc, had no option but to admit to the
>> discrepancy, and agreed to make payment in Liverpool on 4th October. "Mr
>> Vicente Fedelicio of Vega Crewing in the Philippines arrived on the vessel
>> the night before," Molloy continued. "In our opinion, the only reason for
>> his presence was to intimidate the crew into handing their money back once
>> we had left the vessel. He did not want us to know he was on the vessel the
>> night before and both he and Captain Meyn of Vega Reederei strenuously
>> denied he had been on board before the morning of the 4th October, even
>> though we had seen their names in the visitors' book when we boarded. Later,
>> when leaving the vessel after payment had been made we noted that the
>> relevant page from the visitors' book had been ripped out." Captain Meyn of
>> Vega Reederei signed a formal letter of indemnity stating that no action
>> would be taken against any of the crew by the company or any of its
>> associates and that no attempt would be made to induce the crew to return
>> the wages recovered. 
>> 
>> But Tommy Molloy was concerned that the crew were being threatened, and
>> hours later he decided to return to the vessel. He asked the Port Police to
>> accompany him in order to check on the welfare of the crew. "When we arrived
>> back on board it became immediately apparent that the company had taken back
>> the wages they had so recently paid out. The company did not deny they had
>> the wages back but insisted the crew had returned the money voluntarily.
>> When questioned all but two of the fifteen crew, some barely able to speak
>> and all with heads bowed, staring at the floor, stated they had voluntarily
>> returned their wages as they did not want them! The same crew had been
>> delighted to receive their wages only hours earlier. "In my opinion, a high
>> level of threat and intimidation has been levelled at the crew. I explained
>> to Captain Meyn and Mr Fedelicio that an employer has a duty to ensure that
>> the employee is paid in accordance with their contracts of employment and if
>> they are offered the wages back by the employee as a 'gift' any decent
>> employer would refuse and would insist his employee take the wages they are
>> rightfully entitled to. But clearly, being decent seems to form no part of
>> their agenda." "We will follow-up in subsequent ports in order to check on
>> the welfare of the two crew members who courageously decided to hold on to
>> their recovered wages." 
>> 
>> Tommy Molloy added: "The Gibraltar registry has been swift to respond to the
>> situation and has said that it is 'appalled at the reports' and will
>> investigate fully to establish whether any action by them is necessary. They
>> clearly do not want to be associated with behaviour of the type that we
>> believe has taken place in this case. "We have advised the charterers of the
>> situation and we will be contacting various supermarkets who are likely
>> customers for the fresh food produce carried, in order to discuss their
>> corporate responsibility policies. Fair trade should also extend to the
>> workers who actually transport the goods from one place to another as well
>> as to the growers. We would like to know if such companies are happy to
>> tolerate the kind of abuse we believe we have uncovered here." The ship left
>> Liverpool on 4th October en route for Bilbao and Dublin and is due to return
>> to Liverpool on 11th October.
>> 
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