When grain-carrying ship ASL Uranus docked in the Port of Tacoma this month, 15 Burmese seafarers spoke up: They hadn’t been paid in full for seven months, unlike their Chinese and Vietnamese co-workers. Unions stepped in to help and ensure the workers’ safety.
Unpaid wages are the most common complaint from international seafarers, according to the International Transport Workers’ Federation, a London-based international association of transport workers unions. In 2021, the organization secured $37.6 million in unpaid wages.
One of the first people to talk with the Burmese workers was ITF’s West Coast inspector Jeff Engels, who found out that the seafarers’ employer, China-based Agricore Group, had withheld $73,458 in unpaid wages. The workers also said the company demanded that, if paid, they would have to return the money to the ship’s captain once they left U.S. waters. They feared for their lives and the safety of their families, who were also being threatened, the workers told Engels.
