Japan and at last picked up all our military cargo. But things are not
going so well aboard the M/V Advantage. Since I have come aboard I have
been inundated with stories from the crew about things the officers have
been doing which is at best perceived as dishonest by the crew and at worst
the Captain refusing to comply with our union contract.
Up until yesterday I was just a sounding board for many of the crew.
Yesterday I became as angry as the rest of them.
Some quick background here: A few days ago we docked at a military base,
prior to docking the Captain submitted crew information to NCIS so that the
crew may get cleared to go ashore. Most of the crew was cleared, but there
were about 3 people that for one reason on another were not cleared. In
addition to those 3 the Captain did not submit my information or the other
new AB's information to NCIS. He told me that there was not enough time
from the date I was hired back onto the ship to get my information
submitted. (Later he will change this story) This did not bother me to much
at the time.
Our union contract states that persons restricted to ship shall be paid
every hour they are on board and not on the clock. So as I watched most of
the crew come and go as they pleased, enjoying the sights, tastes and sounds
of Japan, I stayed on board and ate the ships food, and drank the still
tainted water from my last trip and I was secure in the fact that at very
least I will be compensated for this by the Restricted to Ship clause in our
contract.
Now fast forward about one week. The time sheets were turned in, and I am
on the bridge wing standing look out duties, my watch partner is the Chief
Mate. Out comes the Captain and says he wants to ask me a question about
why I felt I deserved to be paid as Restricted to Ship… My reply was that
"I was restricted to the ship"
Captain: who restricted you to the ship?
Me: I don't know, but I was not allowed down the gangway.
Captain: I didn't restrict you to the ship so you cannot get this pay.
Me: It does not matter who restricted me, I was unable to leave during my
time off.
Now the Captain asked me to defend the union contract and explain why the
company should pay me when the military is to blame for my restriction. I
told him that he had time to submit my information and that was no excuse.
He came back suggesting what if I missed my flight and I wasn't even aboard
the ship? (I think to myself, so fucking what? So you fill out a piece of
paper that was not any good, what logic is this man trying to convey to me?)
So now he is telling me that he could have submitted my information to NCIS
but since I was not on board at the time he didn't. This was a new story to
me. Now he has two differing stories as to why my name and information was
not submitted to NCIS…At this point I realize he lied to me about the
premise of this whole conversation and he lied at least once about the
reason my info was not submitted. He is now counseling me on how fairness
to the company is so important and how contracts with the government cannot
be negotiated. In my head I am dumbfounded; I cannot believe this
conversation is actually taking place. All he had to do was redline the
entries on my time sheet and I could contest it later with the union. I
tried to edge my way out the door, I was done with this conversation, but he
kept talking, and every now and then the Mate would utter agreement with the
captain. Now I felt like a team of the two most powerful men on the ship
were against me.
I stated that I would take it up with the union then and walked out the door
back to my watch standing duties. It was then that I believed whole
heartedly what the Bosun had been telling me. The Captain or the Mate has
been deleting all the email communications to the union hall. Several
emails have been placed in the computer system by the bosun asking for
clarification on contractual issues. We can pull up a history of every
email sent, except those addressed to the union.
In the end this all started over $120 worth of time, that I really was not
all that passionate about. Honestly, I most likely would never have fought
to get this paid to me. But now, with out provocation I have a Captain
willing to lie to my face, to hide communications, and to steal openly. I
will fight to get this money, and from now on I will not volunteer to work
overtime since I have no reason to believe that I will not be screwed out of
earned money.
The new rumor is that ship yard is moved back again and there may be more
back loads. No one but the Captain and the Mate knows for sure, as usual
they are to busy sewing discontent to be honest with their shipmates.
This is not typical; I have never seen anything like this on a ship before.
I still cannot wrap my head around it. Less than two weeks into this voyage
and I am ready to come home. Fucking unbelievable!
Jesse
PS Still to date the Bosun has been unable to get a fax or email to or from
Union Representitives. I am sending a copy of this to union reps as well.
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