Foreign ship with low paid Filipino crew draws Aussie union’s ire

Defiant crew members of the MV Portland opposing their replacement by a Singapore-flagged ship with low paid Filipino crewmen. FACEBOOK

SAN FRANCISCO–A foreign-flagged ship with a Filipino crew on board is at the center of an industrial and political battle between Australian transport unions and private industry.

The International Transport Workers Federation says the Filipino crew members of a Singapore-registered ship chartered to haul aluminum ore from Western Australia to Alcoa’s smelter in Portland, Victoria, are each to be paid about $US150 ($207) a week.

The ship and its Filipino crew are set to replace Alcoa’s MV Portland and its 40 Australian crewmembers, further fueling a campaign against cheap foreign crews on Australia’s coastal routes, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Unions claim that opening Australia’s coastal route to foreign crews, who do not undergo the stringent security checks like Australian seafarers, could threaten Australia’s national security.

The crew members of the MV Portland are defying orders from the Fair Work Commission and the Federal Court. They refuse to sail their ship to Singapore, where it is to be sold, leaving them jobless.

The 27-year-old MV Portland has been anchored for more than two weeks in Portland’s harbor. Alcoa argues it will save $6 million a year by scrapping its ship and chartering a foreign vessel.

Political supporters of the Australian seamen called on the Turnbull government to withdraw the “temporary” license allowing Alcoa to use a foreign ship and with a lower paid crew on the coastal route.

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