“Connection with trade union is crucial for seafarers”

The International Seamen's Club in Nakhodka, hosted a presentation of the new book "Escape from Busan" by journalist Leonid Vinogradov, who has worked as an ITAR-TASS correspondent for a long time. The event was attended not only by representatives of the Far East Territorial Organization of the SUR, but also by the first readers of the book – the seafarers. The book has been published with 500 copies and tells about the events that were happening during past few years with the involvement of seafarers from Nakhodka who were working on board  several vessels under different flags. The author himself admitted that the work on the book was for him an immersion in the past, when he himself worked in sea.

“This book is about the tragic fate of seafarers, it depicts situations when the maritime trade union helps seafarers to get out of difficult situations. Connection with a trade union is crucial for a seafarer. If he does not have this connection, then he often can not only lose the money he has earned, but even die physically. I have heard that sometimes seafarers opt out of a union, and when they get into trouble they frantically looking for ways to contact it. Today it would be hardly possible for any seafarer to get back wages without the trade union's connections with diplomatic bodies, international organizations and the prosecutor's office”,  - the author said.

“This book reflects for the first time the conditions in which seafarers have to work today, among which are  pandemic,  special military operation and piracy. Today, despite the calls from the West  to refuse to employ Russian seafarers we continue to cooperate with well-known shipping companies all over the world. They value our seafarers for high quality of their training. And the book "Escape from Busan" is about assistance we have rendered to many seafarers and their families. Last year, another book was published, in English, it is called “Do seafarers under flags of convenience have rights”, which is actually a manual for advocating the interests of maritime fleet workers. We give these books for free to seafarers calling to our port, -  SUR FETO Chairman Nikolay Sukhanov said.

For reference: over 30 years of work the Nakhodka-based  SUR FETO assisted to return more than USD24 million of unpaid wages and compensations for death on board to seafarers and their families. And  SUR FETO representatives still can effectively help Russian seafarers in difficult situations thanks to close ties with the maritime trade unions of the countries of the Asia-Pacific region and with  Inspectors of the International Transport Workers Federation.