Loading Halts as Ship’s Crew Strikes in Long Beach Port

Crew members of a cargo ship berthed in the Port of Long Beach struck for a second day Friday, saying they are owed more than $325,000 in back wages.

The action, which began Thursday evening, brought work to a halt aboard the Endless, a Greek-owned bulk carrier that was being loaded with petroleum coke bound for Asia.

Dockworkers have honored the crew’s picket line and refused to load the Panama-registered vessel, which is berthed at Pier G. On Friday evening, an arbitrator ordered the longshore workers to resume loading the ship.

Officials for the International Transport Workers Federation, a global union that represents seafarers, said the 18-member crew went on strike several days after the federation began investigating the wage dispute. The seafarers, who are paid monthly, say they were repeatedly shorted in their wages.

“It looks like the owners breached their agreement with the crew, and we are trying to get to the bottom of it,” said Stefan Mueller-Dombois, a federation inspector.

Mueller-Dombois said a review of the ship’s books uncovered accounting irregularities and evidence that the crew was getting paid about half of what it was owed.

Under current federation agreements, an able-bodied seaman should make about $1,550 a month, including wages, overtime and vacation allowances.

The federation is seeking about $362,000 from Sea Justice S.A., which operates the Endless and four other cargo ships. The amount includes back wages, penalties and travel expenses to return crew members to the Philippines, a large supplier of seafarers for the global merchant fleet.

Frank Brucculeri, an attorney for the ship owner, said the crew worked under a Philippine union contract required by the Philippine government and supplemental transport federation agreements obtained through a Greek seafarers union.

The owner, Brucculeri said, thought he could pay the crew under the Philippine contract, which offered wages that were considerably less than the federation agreements.

Brucculeri contends that the amount in back wages sought by the transport federation is inflated.

He estimates that the company owes something in the “high $100,000s to low $200,000s.” An accountant is trying to determine the amount, he said.

Kevin Schroeder, vice president of Local 13 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, said dockworkers refused to load the ship as a sign of support for the strike.

“The owner has threatened to fire the crew, take the ship out to anchor and hire a new crew,” Schroeder said. “This is a basic human rights deal. They are standing up for their rights.”

Brucculeri contends that crew members have violated their own grievance procedures in the wage dispute. If they continue to do so, he said, the owner has a right to fire them.

dan.weikel@latimes.com