Striking Filipino sailors get justice
Both the Breeze and the Times are running stories about eighteen Filipino sailors who were striking while docked at the Port of Los Angeles, due to being illegally underpaid. It looks like they're going to get a significant amount of the back pay they demanded and I presume that they will be paid properly in the future, as well. Congratulations sailors, and kudos to the ILWU workers who refused to load the ship until the strike was over.
This dispute is a great reminder that our economy, both locally and nationally depends on a tremendous number of foreign nationals who are eager to do tough jobs, and that they deserve the same rights and respect that we give to our own workers.
This dispute is a great reminder that our economy, both locally and nationally depends on a tremendous number of foreign nationals who are eager to do tough jobs, and that they deserve the same rights and respect that we give to our own workers.
1 Comments:
The very reason they're employed is because they don't have the rights and respect of our own workers. That's how globalization works.
In this particular case, that's one of the reasons shippers use flags of convenience for their ships. It's so they can employ Filipino/Burmese/Indonesian/etc. crew members who will work for peanuts and can be easily replaced if they get hurt or start asking troublesome questions.
The whole system, in other words, hinges on making sure that these workers don't have rights or respect.
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