The plight of seafarers left powerless due to unscrupulous shipowners failing to pay their wages has been brought into sharp focus by the latest figures released by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF).
The organisation recovered $118 529 663 in wages owed to seafarers between 2020 and 2022. More than $36 million was paid back in 2022 alone.
ITF inspectors are officials who board vessels to educate seafarers on their rights, identify any violations of crew contracts, national laws or international conventions, and then work with authorities to see rights are enforced. The ITF has inspectors operating out of 111 ports in 56 countries.
2 199 breach-of-contract cases were reported by seafarers to the ITF in 2022, with non-payment of wages the most common reason.
“While we are proud that our inspectors have been successful in recovering almost $120 million for seafarers in the last three years, it’s unfortunate that we need to address wage underpayments at all. We would prefer to see all seafarers paid in full, and paid on time in the first place,” said David Heindel, ITF seafarers’ section chair and president of the Seafarers International Union.
“For some seafarers, a shipowner might miss a pay date here or there, but others can go months without receiving their salaries. ITF inspectors, supported by our seafarer and docker union affiliates, are here to help crew stand up for their rights wherever they need support.”
In 2022, ITF’s inspectors conducted 8 667 ship inspections worldwide. 1 878 of these were in response to seafarers’ calls, emails or messages for help from the ITF.
