Maritime Union wants answers on Indonesian shipjumpers

The Mari­time Uni­on of New Zea­l­and and Inter­na­tion­al Trans­port Work­ers’ Fed­er­a­tion (ITF) are invest­ig­at­ing a shipjump­ing incid­ent in Duned­in where nine Indone­sian sea­farers left the fish­ing trawl­er Marinui on Fri­day 10 March.

ITF New Zea­l­and co-ordin­at­or Kathy Whelan says the Uni­on has been in touch with the Min­istry of Immig­ra­tion about the case, and ITF rep­res­ent­at­ives will try to speak to the fish­er­men at Auck­land Air­port before they are sent home tomor­row.

She says she is extremely con­cerned about the increas­ing num­bers of for­eign sea­farers leav­ing their ves­sels in New Zea­l­and ports, in this case claim­ing they were sub­jec­ted to 24 hour shifts with no breaks, two hour sleep breaks, and phys­ic­al abuse.

Mr Han­son says the Mari­time Uni­on and the Inter­na­tion­al Trans­port Work­ers Fed­er­a­tion, as well as the Coun­cil of Trade Uni­ons, were recently giv­en assur­ances by the Min­is­ter of Immig­ra­tion that prob­lems in the fish­ing industry would be fixed.

“We want to get the real facts on the mat­ter, as we are always see­ing these shipjump­ing work­ers spir­ited out of the coun­try before the mat­ter is prop­erly invest­ig­ated.”

He says the Mari­time Uni­on pos­i­tion is that the employ­ment of over­seas fish­er­men in New Zea­l­and waters needs to be closely mon­itored and reg­u­lated by New Zea­l­and Immig­ra­tion offi­cials in their coun­try of ori­gin.

“This is the only way to make sure these exploited work­ers are employed on prop­er terms and con­di­tions at New Zea­l­and mar­ket rates with prop­er employ­ment agree­ments, and that they are not sub­ject to cor­rupt prac­tices like hav­ing to pay ‘fees’ for their job.”

For fur­ther inform­a­tion con­tact:

Mari­time Uni­on Gen­er­al Sec­ret­ary Tre­vor Han­son on 04 801 7614 or 021 390585

ITF New Zea­l­and Co-ordin­at­or Kathy Whelan on 04 801 7613 or 021 666405