Human Rights Abuses on the High Seas
Flags of convenience are often used by merchant ships to flout international law. Often it’s the workers aboard such ships that suffer, with poor living conditions and shockingly low wages. But in Wallaroo this week, the workers fought back. The Filipino crew of the Greek owned, Maltese flagged ship The Flecca went on strike, and pleaded for help from the International Transport Workers Federation. The ship’s captain used a security alert to raise the gangway and prevent the ITWF from boarding the ship. Local workers then refused to work on the ship until the situation was resolved. Jake Field from the Maritime Union of Australia says the local wharfies were just standing up for their Filipino colleagues, and Dean Sommers from the ITWF says the conditions the workers were facing was horrendous.