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Issue No. 200 | 24 October 2003 |
The Hard Yards
Interview: No Ifs, No Butts Unions: National Focus Industrial: Fools Gold Bad Boss: Bones of Contention History: The Gong Show Politics: The Hawke Legacy International: Sick Nation Economics: Closed Minds Review: Mixing Pop and Politics Poetry: One Size Fits All
Workers Rally For �Joel�s Law� It�s Official: Courts Weak on Safety Cole Insider Highlights "Agenda" "Racism" as Pacific Islanders Rorted Academics Appeal to International Umpire Poll Points to Hospital Overload Aussie Icon Set To Head Overseas AWU Rejects Bid to Fleece Shearers People�s Bank to Hear From People Unions Put Students in Picture Memo ALP Members: Think About Unions
Postcard The Soapbox Media The Locker Room Culture Politics Postcard
Advance Australia Where? God Save Us All US Seeking Aussie Info Call The Doctor Bring Back Gough Bring Back Social Democracy Look East, Look West
Labor Council of NSW |
News "Racism" as Pacific Islanders Rorted
ITF co-ordinator, Dean Summers, is pointing the finger directly at Faymon Shipping Pty Ltd, of Chatswood, after more than a year of trying to get someone to accept responsibility for 33 officers and crew who worked the ill-fated Pacific Emerald.
"Faymon Shipping has bought a Post Box in Vanuata and used it to evade its basic responsibilities," Summers said. "It's a racist thing. If our guys were Australians they would at least pay them but because these workers are Fijians and Vanuatuans they think they can get away with it." Faymon managing director, Patrick Wong, failed to return calls from Workers Online today. But his company isn't the only Australian business in ITF sites. Summers is also ropeable that Sydney-administrators, Hall Chadwick, still haven't paid seamen wages outstanding for more than a year. He said the ITF had a written agreement with Hall Chadwick that outstanding monies would be remitted in three installments, finishing in August. First installments were paid but the workers are still waiting for the rest of their money. "We can only assume they have the money because they have promised to pay it in writing," Summers said. "This case shows that some of the worst FoC abusers are right here in Sydney. "In the leafy suburbs of North Sydney and the glass towers of the CBD we have wealthy men using the FoC system to abuse workers from developing countries." The ITF was alerted to the plight of 33 seafarers aboard the Pacific Emerald after they had been left in Chittagong without food or water in August of last year. After months of negotiations they agreed to unload their cargo of copra and the ship owners promised they would be paid in full and repatriated to their homelands. The crew took the Pacific Emerald for wrecking but the second part of the settlement was never honoured. They survived months in Chittagong, without owed wages or regular food, on the generosity of local trade unionists. Eventually, 13 of their number were repatriated, leaving 20 to be returned home at the expense of the Fiji and Vanuatu Governments. Most of the men returned to their homelands by last Christmas. Since then the ITF has been trying to extract owed monies, first from Pacific Jewel, then the company's Sydney administrators. "The Pacific Emerald is razor blades now," Summers said, "all it was good was scrap which goes to show the standard of ship these guys were on in the first place." Alex Dampier of Hall Chadwick refused to answer any of the issues raised by the ITF promising to refer enquiries to administrator Jeffrey McDonald. McDonald, like Wong, did not return our calls.
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