Police rescue MSC crew members from slave-like conditions

[Skipper Tim]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-26896483

[steph7021]

Hmmm. Only some of the crew?? Don't they all work the same hours?

 

 

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[The_Big_M]

Hard to say. Maybe they were only Brazilians?

[OleSalt]

Could this be an effort by Brazilian Labor Unions like the $ 15/hr minimum wage travesty ?

[Katgoesonholiday]

They planned to 'rescue' 13 but two refused to leave? Interesting!

[hkto]

Looks like people who left are Brazilian. Here is a translated quote from http://blogdosakamoto.blogosfera.uol.com.br/2014/04/04/fiscais-flagram-trabalho-analogo-ao-de-escravo-em-cruzeiro-de-luxo/

 

"MSC Crociere's ships operating in Brazilian waters employ a total of 4,181 crew members, 1,243 of whom are Brazilian. After detailed analysis of thousands of sheets of documentation and conducting hundreds of interviews with crew members, on April 1, 2014 the Ministry of Labor and Employment was on board MSC Magnifica and alleged irregularities in the workweek from 13 Brazilian crew, requesting them to disembark. Of these, 11 agreed to disembark, but 2 refused and decided to continue working on board. MSC Crociere is in full compliance with the standards of national and international work and is ready to cooperate with the competent authorities. Thus, the MSC rejects the allegations made by the Ministry of Labor and Employment, which received no evidence or any notice of violation. "

Edited April 5, 2014 by hkto

[MotownVoice]

That maritime lawyer's paranoid writings have grown tiresome to me.

[EdmPair]

That maritime lawyer tires me too.

 

However, this story does raise the labour standards issue of all cruise lines. We would do well to ask ourselves when slave-like is so close it should just be slave. If an employment agency in the third world finds people so poor that they agree to contracts which leave them indentured to the ship, it can be a very fine line. I fully recognize the various lines push for the lowest possible standards. Brazil may just be asking for higher standards.