MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Spanish fishing vessels threatening to abandon the port of Montevideo
Spanish fishing vessel owners have warned Uruguayan port authorities that they are considering leaving the port of Montevideo because of the costly labour disputes with crew members when the vessels dock, taking advantage of a very ‘misbalanced’ legislation. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rules“ ... An option for the companies is Rio Grande in the south of Brazil and the Falkland Islands which are already working on facilities to improve land transhipments and even do some primary processing....”
Aug 18th, 2010 - 06:02 am - Link - Report abuse 0“ ... He warned that many fishing vessels are unloading directly in the Falkland Islands which has improved facilities, to avoid the risk of lawsuits in Montevideo....”
I see that the blockade is operating with typical Argentine efficiency! All you South American countries standing 'shoulder to shoulder' is indeed a terrifying sight :-)
(1) Hoyt
Aug 18th, 2010 - 11:08 am - Link - Report abuse 0This has nothing to do with any “blockade”
Is a labor conflict where Spanish Fishing Companies underpay and overwork their Peruvian crews.
The same is happening with many Taiwanese an Filipino crews operating in the “Wild West South Atlantic Fishing Zone”
Argentina, Uruguay AND Brazil trade unions are cooperating to force these “Fishing Fleets” to treat and pay their employees acording to ILO rules.
If Malvinas is to become an option for these Fleets, they will have to “accept” this modern form of slavery...... eventually, it will backfire on them....
I would not mind if they abandoned the Atlantic Ocean along the entire coast of South America.
Aug 18th, 2010 - 10:33 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Exploitation of the masses eh? A sound socialist cause..... of course being a part of the EU, the Falkland Islanders may have little choice but to accept another EU members business.
Aug 19th, 2010 - 01:46 am - Link - Report abuse 0But tell me ... if the Peruvian crews are being underworked and underpaid, why do they continue to work for the Spanish ships? Are they shackled to their workplace??
(4) Hoyt
Aug 19th, 2010 - 07:14 am - Link - Report abuse 0You ask:
if the Peruvian crews are being underworked and underpaid, why do they continue to work for the Spanish ships...?
I answer:
Maybe for the same reason that young thai girls spread their legs for old ugly european ex-pats.....?
And the same reason that Argentine women advertise themselves worldwide.......?
Aug 19th, 2010 - 10:54 am - Link - Report abuse 0Think
Aug 20th, 2010 - 09:37 am - Link - Report abuse 0Thai girls appear to be better paid! And they don't stay if they're not which makes them somewhat brighter than your Peruvian crews...
(7) Hoyt
Aug 20th, 2010 - 10:49 am - Link - Report abuse 0Funny as always.... :-)
But this time false as hell :-(
Many of those girls you “think” they go if not paid properly end face down on a ditch.......
Again........... your ethnocentric “rich white man” simpleton-realistic approach.......
I wonder how many of the British posters in here, praising the industrial revolution, capitalism and the stock exchange are direct descendants of exploited child laborers and organized miners that fought and died to get their rights.
I do not think they would like to see their offspring “teaching” the poor of the world about “reality”.
Usual socialist bullshit!
Aug 20th, 2010 - 11:45 am - Link - Report abuse 0I live and work amongst Thais every day. I see what goes on for real. Pimps don't survive here although husbands can be just as bad. The girls belong, in the main, to themselves. Certainly I've not met or heard of a pimp and I've had some experience of the entertainment areas of Thailand.
I'm long passed such indulgences myself, but I know many of the lasses and will happily buy them a drink and listen to their stories. Some good, many bad. If you talk to them like reasonable human beings then they'll talk to you the same way.
Do you know what the biggest problem is for the owners of bars etc ... it's staff. They come, they go and often without saying a word. And they complain like hell ... often!
Now don't misunderstand me, there's good and bad in every part of the world and I don't know about Argentina but I suspect you've never been here. If you have then you never got amongst the people.
As for the industrial revolution ... don't blame us if Spain missed out. Yes, there was exploitation but they were people of their time! Nothing we can do about it now - and certainly not feel guitly. It annoys the hell out of me when politicians appologise for something that happened 200 years ago - ridiculous!
As for the miners, well I fought a few of them and backed Maggie all the way. Trade unionism has its place ... but not when is disrupts a whole country. They've still got rights but they can't hold our country to ransom any more.
I believe that Fox news is too far right, and the Guardian is too far left ... so where does that put you?
(9) Hoyt
Aug 20th, 2010 - 01:16 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Nice rosy picture you draw about prostitution in Thailand....
Problem is that human traffiking is anything but innocent. And many girls end paying with their lives ... even in “ civilized” Western“ Europe, where I'm sitting at the moment.
My mention of the industrial revolution and the miners was just to remind you that your actual position in society is due to your ancestors struggle and work against far superior forces....... It is not a god given right to you because of the fairness of your skin.....
So please stop mocking other people in the world trying to archieve their rights by telling them to be ”realistic” and that things will never change.....
Because things do change..............
You are right Think ... human trafficking for the purposes of prostitution is a terrible thing and some get lured into situations that they shouldn't be in, Thais included. But you didn't mention trafficking at #5
Aug 20th, 2010 - 02:12 pm - Link - Report abuse 0What I see around me is not the same thing at all.
As for being realistic ... again you are quite correct, things do change but not always in the direction you think they will.
The article above suggests that the crews are operating a scam and not seeking rights. From my perspective if a contract of work is freely entered into and the situation properly understood then it is no good whinging about it later and trying to change the deal.
There is undoubtedly more to the story than mentioned above.
I should like to add that my attitude towards prostitution is perhaps coloured by my experiences in the UK ..... where an exchange of sex for money is not illegal. In Thailand it is illegal, although the definition appears to require a demand for payment up front. Which has led to the well known Thai response if asked the question - “Up to you”. Funny old world :-)
Aug 20th, 2010 - 02:39 pm - Link - Report abuse 0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_the_United_Kingdom
Still hundreds, nay thousands, of Argentine women advertise themselves worldwide.......!
Aug 20th, 2010 - 05:22 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Did I mention that Argentine women advertise themselves worldwide......?
That would be hundreds, even thousands, of Argentine women advertising themselves around the world..........!
(11) Hoyt
Aug 20th, 2010 - 05:56 pm - Link - Report abuse 0You say:
“The article above suggests that the crews are operating a scam and not seeking rights.
From my perspective if a contract of work is freely entered into and the situation properly understood then it is no good whinging about it later and trying to change the deal.
There is undoubtedly more to the story than mentioned above”
I totally agree with the above.... but.......
In my world, the scams are usualy run and organized by the patrons, not the workers........
A recent personal experience with a advanced contractual scam between North European employers and East European contracted workers was that....... all paperwork was in perfect legal order..... until you looked at where the workers where obliged to live and the prices they had to pay for “renting” their rooms.
Up to 1.000£ rent a month for the right to sleep together with other 20 men on semi abandoned farm buildings. Deducted directly from their salary by the employer.....
My info is that similar things are happening on the Fishing Fleets operating in the South Atlantic and action is finally being taken.....
Think - as I said, there is probably more to this story. It is usually unwise to base any argument on newspaper articles. As such, and as the english press haven't taken any interest or provided any insight, I shall bow to your greater knowledge :-)
Aug 20th, 2010 - 11:59 pm - Link - Report abuse 0This problem is much bigger than just Peruvians; they just happen to be the current focus. The protection of seamen around the world has been poorly handled by the world community for decades, and there is no doubt that some a fearfully exploited and abused. This tends to be Far Eastern workers on Far Eastern ships to the greatest extent, but I am sure not all EU owners are innocent lambs. If you want to take this issue seriously you have to a) look at the paucity of international law and the failure of flag states to properly control rouge elements of their fleets; b) the extent to which merchant shippping and particularly fishing vessels are excluded from controls; and c) the recruiters in the countries of origin....Peru, Indonesia, Taiwan, etc, who set the terms and take a huge cut of the wages.
Aug 24th, 2010 - 12:39 pm - Link - Report abuse 0This is not a South Americans together issue, it is a worldwide humanitarian issue, but a few rogue lawyers using some extortion tactics in Monte will not fix it. The patrons of the thriving Monte port will simply go somewhere else.
(16) Stilakelper
Aug 24th, 2010 - 02:11 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Yes,......It is a worldwide issue but nobody is doing anything besides talking and saying that if you persecute them one place they will just move to another place..........
But.................
As the South Atlantic (and South Pacific) are very much an South American Issue......And, with only five (5) of our countries (Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay,and Brazil) making an agreement under the Mercosur, Unasur or whatever, these “rouge” fishing fleets would have not a chance to operate uncontroled in our waters.
Look at the map......There is simply nowhere else to go for them!
Those “Rouge Lawyers and their ”extortion” tactics as you call them are showing us the way...................
By the way.... Why do you call them that?
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