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Filipino seafarers victorious following picket line support from dockers
14 September 2006
 |  | | The seafarers celebrate their wages win at the local seafarers' centre | |
A Filipino crew has won more than US$200,000 in back pay after their strike action in a US port led to victory. US dockers in the port backed the strike by refusing to cross the seafarers’ picket line.
Last Thursday 18 Filipino seafarers on board the Panamanian-flagged M/V Endless began four days of strike action in the port of Long Beach, California, in protest over outstanding wages. Members of the ITF-affiliated International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), representing over 7000 US dockers, and the entire maritime community in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach supported the protest. ILWU members working in Long Beach also honoured the picket line by refusing to handle the bulk carrier’s cargo.
According to ITF inspector Stefan Mueller Dombois, the vessel’s Greek owner was in breach of the terms and conditions of an ITF collective agreement covering the seafarers.
Following a weekend of fraught negotiations, it was reported earlier this week that the owner had agreed to pay a total of US$227,000 to the crew and repatriate them, promising they would not be blacklisted.
Frank Leys, ITF Dockers’ Section Secretary said: “Dockers will always be there to help seafarers especially if the vessel is covered by an ITF agreement. We’ve done it this time and we’ll do it again next time if we have to.”
Stephen Cotton, ITF Special Seafarers Department, added: “Docker solidarity is at the heart of the ITF’s flag of convenience campaign. Their support has made all the difference, helping the seafarers to win the money that is rightfully theirs.”
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