The Guardian 2 April, 2008
Captain caught out
underpaying workers
The captain of the DD Vanguard, a foreign unregulated ship operating on an Australian government permit, has been caught out underpaying workers by more than $1,000 a month while working in the domestic shipping trade.
The International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) called on the federal government to revoke the ship’s permit until the wages and conditions of the workers are restored to ITF minimum standards.
An inspector from the ITF boarded the ship in Melbourne last month and discovered evidence that crew were being paid a little more than $100 per week.
"This is a disgraceful example of clear exploitation of foreign workers working in our own waters," said Dean Summers, National Coordinator for the ITF in Australia.
"The federal government must now step in to stop this ship from trading on Australia’s coast under a Single Voyage Permit — taking away work from Australian owned and crewed vessels.
"This is a Russian owned ship, registered in Panama under a Flag of Convenience to avoid any regulation, grossly underpaying its workers but we allow it to trade on our coast and dock at Australian ports."
He said that this was the legacy of the Howard government — unregulated foreign vessels trading domestic Australian cargo, unchecked and unregulated.
"Tightening the permit system is one of a number of outcomes that must be achieved by the Parliamentary Review of Australian shipping announced by Minister Albanese’s office last week," said Mr Summers.