DUBLIN - The captain and 10-man crew of a Latvian cargo ship docked off the west coast of Ireland have entered their third week of strike, refusing to set sail again until they are paid the backlog of wages they say are owed them. The 2,000-ton Fortuna I, which is owned by the Latvian shipping company Spader, had been carrying a cargo of steel bars for an importer based in Galway, on the west coast of Ireland, when Captain Rihards Vaislis and his crew made their decision to strike on March 30th.
Speaking from the ship, Captain Vaislis told The Baltic Times, "We refused to open the hatches because the crew had not received their wages, some of them since last November."
"Our action continues until we receive our wages. Without money it is hard to live. But the mood on board is good, no problem, we have enough food and water," he said.
The crew have been in touch with the Irish Republic's principal trade union organization SIPTU, whose representative for transportation workers Ken Fleming of the Irish Transport Federation (ITF) has in turn approached Spader. The latter offered payment, but only a limited amount and in piecemeal fashion.
"The men have been told repeatedly that they will be paid after the next trip. They have literally sailed from port to port on promise after promise and say they aren't sailing further until they are paid," Fleming said
He added that the crew had been working 300 hours per month at a rate of 257 euros per month. He said that though their salary was low, the arrears and overtime combined represented a substantial figure.
"I sent [Spader] an e-mail saying that... I was considering having the ship arrested and disposed of in order to recoup the money owed to the crew," Fleming told The Baltic Times. Fleming later said Spader had promised to sending at least part of the money. As of our press time, however, the situation remained unresolved.
"We understand that Ken has had notice from the Latvian owners that money has been lodged to accounts to pay the crews up to the end of March, but we are still waiting for the final confirmation on that, and it still leaves outstanding a number of issues," said Padraig Yeates of the ITF Press Office on April 16.
