Royal Caribbean is one of the three major cruise lines found to poorly treating its foreign workers

The annual median income in the US is around 31,099 USD, i.e. $2,592 per month (1). Under Section 883 of the US tax code (2), a ship is only subject to the country's laws it is registered in (3). This legal loophole allows the world’s three major cruise lines (3), all based in Miami (4), to shelter themselves as foreign entities in countries deemed lax in wage statues(3) and labour laws (5), hiring foreign workers from around $1.62-$2.27 per hour ($500-$700/month) (3), which represents 73%-81% less than the US median income.

The industry offers 1.1 million jobs worldwide, of which 38% are in the US (421k) (6), but only 5% of cruise ship workers are US residents, mostly in directorate roles (5), meaning 95% are foreign workers. Lower-paid workers live in tiny cabins with up to 4 roommates (7). Around 40% of crew workers make a monthly earning equal to or less than $2,000 (1). The standard contract for a dishwasher requires 308 hours/month: 11 hours/day, 7 days/week, with no days off (3). Signed to six or eight-month contracts, workers are fearful of complaining and lowering odds of being rehired (5). Since recruits come from countries with limited economic opportunities, cruises can get away with treating them poorly (5).

Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) is incorporated in Liberia in 1985 (3). It is one of the three major cruise lines accused of bypassing US labour standards (3). RCL employs around 76,708 people a year (8;p47), from 126 nationalities (8;p37), of which 90.6% work on board, i.e. 69,492 workers (8;p47). RCL requires its out-of-sight, below-deck crew staff to work for 10+ hours a day, for pay that can be as low as $1.25 per hour (9). At a Dutch inspection in 2015, RCL was fined $760,000 for excessive working hours and lack of work permits (9). In 2018, RCL reported $19,396 as median annual earnings for its staff (1), 37% less than the US median income, and the figure accounts for all levels of its workforce.

Incorporated offshore and operating in international waters, RCL seizes legal loopholes to bypass labour standards and offer feeble working conditions to onboard foreign workers.

This post was originally published on April 20th, 2021 at Impaakt.com. Find the original post here