Ten Indonesian migrant fishers working on a Taiwanese-flagged distant-water fishing vessel on Wednesday said they were collectively owed wages totaling US$80,850 for periods of employment ranging from 11 to 15 months.
The 10 Indonesians were crew members of the fishing vessel You Fu, which is based at a port in Pingtung County’s Liouciou Township (琉球).
Feri Rahardjo, one of the fishers, said at a news conference that he had not been paid for 15 months.
Photo: CNA
Due to the delayed paychecks, Rahardjo said his aunt died, because his family could not afford the medical treatment she required, adding that his house is also on the verge of being seized by the bank.
Another crew member, Masduki Priyono, said they lived in appalling conditions, with their beds infested by bedbugs that left their whole bodies itchy.
Food deliveries were late on two occasions during the past 15 months, Priyono said, adding that while waiting, they could only eat fish bait and instant noodles.
In addition, the shipowner often subjected them to verbal abuse and threatened them, he said.
The fishers said there was no Wi-Fi on the vessel, and Priyono only found out they had not been paid and that his wife and two children had not received any remittances upon their return to shore on July 15.
Just paying the owed wages would not be sufficient, Priyono said, expressing hope that the shipowner would receive adequate punishment.
“If they are punished for catching fish they are not supposed to catch, why are they not punished for subjecting migrant fishers to illegal treatment?” he asked.
In the past, incidents involving delayed salary payments to migrant fishers were handled according to the Act Governing Distant Water Fisheries (遠洋漁業條例), which decides the punishments for contraventions of contractual terms, such as suspension of fishing permits, Rerum Novarum Center migrant worker rights advocate Lee Cheng-hsin (李正新) said.
However, shipowners who owe crew members salaries are also liable under the Civil Code and should pay interest on top of the owed pay, because their families were forced to borrow money to survive, Lee said.
Rules should be introduced to enable judges to order offenders to pay crew members damages in addition to late salary payments, Lee added.
In response, Fisheries Agency’s Fisheries Manpower Division head Hsueh Po-yuan (薛博元) said the agency had ordered the shipowner to clear up all the pay owed to the fishers by today.
If the shipowner fails to meet the deadline, the agency would pay the fishers using the collateral from their manpower broker, Hsueh said.
Contacted for a comment, the shipowner, surnamed Huang (皇), on Tuesday said she had encountered financial difficulty, which resulted in the delayed pay.
Huang said she had come up with the money and that the fishers received their payments yesterday.
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