THE INTERNATIONAL Transport Workers’ Federation has ramped up ship inspections in New South Wales this week as part of a campaign launched on Tuesday.
The week of action is part of the ITF’s Nowhere to Hide campaign, which began in the Port of Newcastle on 13 June.
The campaign targets underpayment of seafarers, and was prompted by a 2022 report that identified a rise in “wage theft” on ships in Australian waters.
The Nowhere to Hide campaign aims to increase the number of inspections between 13 and 20 June, targeting “every ship entering any New South Wales port”.
The ITF said inspectors, co-ordinators and volunteers are looking for wage theft, refusal of shore leave, failure to repatriate seafarers to their country of origin, denial of medical care and bullying and harassment of vulnerable workers.
“International shipowners are on notice that the ITF Inspectorate will be conducting spot checks of their vessels throughout Australian waters and ensuring they meet their legal, social and ethical obligations,” ITF president and MUA national secretary Paddy Crumlin said.
“So far, we have recovered millions upon millions of dollars of stolen wages for some of the world’s most vulnerable workers, and we will pursue this relentlessly in defiance of employers and shipowners who seek to profiteer in such an unprincipled and immoral manner.”
Ian Bray, ITF co-ordinator for Australia, said the union performed 550 inspections in 2022 and recovered almost US$7 million in “stolen” wages.
“This year we are on track to reach $11 million in recovered monies, so this just shows that the problem isn’t going away and that international shipowners need to be monitored very closely to ensure they are operating within the law and within the community’s expectations,” he said.
“ITF inspectors do more than recover stolen wages, however. We are on the frontline ensuring important safety standards are met, that medical care is provided to sick or injured seafarers, and that the human rights of visiting seafarers are respected in Australia ports by employers and terminal operators, including access to shore leave and repatriation.”
The ITF said it is also targeting ships sailing under “flags of convenience” to ensure compliance with the Coastal Trading Act and the Fair Work Act.
