Treatment of Ukrainian Crew a national disgrace

The Mari­time Uni­on says that the treat­ment of a Ukrain­i­an fish­ing crew in Lyt­telton is a nation­al dis­grace and a prime example of the prob­lems plaguing the fish­ing industry.

The crew have been on strike for unpaid wages aboard the fish­ing ves­sel Malak­hov Kur­gan which is laid up in the Port of Lyt­telton.

Eight crew mem­bers remain on strike aboard after refus­ing a deal that 19 of their fel­low crew mem­bers accep­ted.

Mari­time Uni­on Gen­er­al Sec­ret­ary Tre­vor Han­son says the crew have asked for the Uni­on to rep­res­ent them, as they are employ­ees of a state-owned Ukrain­i­an fish­ing com­pany work­ing in a joint ven­ture with New Zea­l­and com­pany United Fish­er­ies.

Mr Han­son says the Uni­on is unhappy about medi­ation that occurred between the Depart­ment of Labour and the crew.

“There seems to be a approach of divide and rule, and an inten­tion of quietly get­ting the crew out of the coun­try before fur­ther ques­tions are asked about their employ­ment con­di­tions.”

Mr Han­son says the Mari­time Uni­on is con­cerned that the crew mem­bers who accep­ted the deal did because of pres­sure com­ing from their employ­ers in the Ukraine.

“The Mari­time Uni­on has writ­ten evid­ence from the crew that shows these work­ers have been put under pres­sure from their Ukrain­i­an employ­ers, and we are ask­ing for evid­ence that all work­ers aboard the Malak­hov Kur­gan have been paid the min­im­um wage for their work while in New Zea­l­and waters.”

Mr Han­son says the the Uni­on has run out of patience with the fish­ing industry.

He says the Depart­ment of Labour has dis­trib­uted mul­ti­lin­gual leaf­lets to over­seas fish­ing ves­sel crews telling them they are entitled to the same work­ing con­di­tions as New Zeal­anders.

“We are of the opin­ion that the Depart­ment of Labour should be fol­low­ing up their leaf­lets and enfor­cing the law with regard to this group of work­ers.”

Mr Han­son says the New Zea­l­and Gov­ern­ment must ensure that the work­ers are not vic­tim­ized when they return home, and says the solu­tion is for prop­er employ­ment agree­ments under New Zea­l­and law to be signed by all fish­ing crew before they arrive in New Zea­l­and waters.