Union says cruise ship crews still open to exploitation under legal loophole

Cruise ship crews still vulnerable to exploitation as government announces updated protections In short: A legal exemption for cruise ships from Australian labour law has been altered to allow some new protections for crew. Critics say the legal loophole that left them vulnerable shouldn't have existed in the first place and allows for worker exploitation. What's next? The exemption was due to expire at the end of the year but has been extended to 2028. The union that represents cruise ship workers has warned that the exploitation of staff will become "embedded" in the industry after the federal government extended a decades-old exemption that allowed cruise ships to circumvent Australian labour law. The government has announced new protections for cruise workers following an ABC News investigation that revealed allegations of shocking conditions among the crew on some Carnival Cruise vessels. It includes the ability to collectively bargain and make complaints to the maritime safety regulator. But the government has decided to continue the practice of allowing cruise ships an exemption to labour laws, extending the long-standing exemption until 2028. The ABC revealed in August that workers were accusing the company of 12-hour work days for seven days a week, medical neglect, not providing safe drinking water and wages less than $3 an hour. Carnival denied the allegations. Transport Minister Catherine King called the allegations "horrifying". In response to the investigation Australia's anti-slavery commissioner said: "I think some change in this area is long overdue." Exemption should never have existed: union Maritime Union of Australia national secretary Jake Field said the exemption should never have existed in the first place and did so at the expense of Australian jobs. Introduced in 1998, the exemption lets cruise ships avoid Australian labour law and instead follow the looser international Maritime Labour Convention. The new obligations are the first time cruise operators have had conditions attached to their exemption. Originally expiring at the end of this year, it was extended until 2028 with the new conditions that ship operators cannot restrict crews rights to collective bargaining, and complaints about working conditions must to be reported to the maritime regulator, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. "The exemption shouldn't exist at all. The government should do an investigation into the industry,"Mr Field said. Right to collective bargaining Under the new conditions, cruise operators can no longer restrict crews' rights to collective bargaining. The ABC has seen letters from Carnival that warned crew against the presence of Maritime Union of Australia representatives at ports and reminded staff that they were under no obligation to stop. Transport Minister Catherine King said in a statement that the changes would protect workers while supporting Australia's maritime industry. Carnival and Royal Caribbean Cruises did not comment when asked if they would begin bargaining with crews. Carnival said it was considering the details of the announcement. Regulator to have more oversight of complaints The changes also mean that all crew complaints regarding the Maritime Labor Convention must be reported to the Australian regulator. It is intended to give the government a better understanding of the types of complaints being made about conditions and how they are managed. Calls to protect foreign cruise ship workersThe government has said it will be the last time the exemption is renewed and it is considering a review of the laws, the findings of which are not yet public. Carnival operates three ships full-time from Australia, with roughly 1,000 crew on each, mostly flown in from South-East Asian and African countries. In a previous statement to the ABC, Carnival rejected the allegations made by crew and said the maritime authority had carried out "surprise inspections of our three ships in recent weeks and cleared Carnival on each occasion". It said that the company followed international standards. Critics say changes don't go far enough The Maritime Union argued the changes do not go far enough. Jake Field said the exemption should not exist in the first place and it would "further embed an industry built on exploitation at the expense of foreign seafarers". "It's a thriving industry and it doesn't need to thrive on exploitation. It's a lie to say that it won't thrive on Australian wages." Almost 1.5 million Australians went on cruises last year, according to the Cruise Lines International Association. Ms King said that cruises were a vital economic driver for port towns across Australia and a draw for international tourists. Mr Field said the union had been telling Carnival that their employees wanted to bargain with them, to no avail. "They've responded to that by not allowing New South Wales [SafeWork] to access the vessel," he said. "That's how serious they take the rights of workers." Carnival previously said in a statement: "SafeWork NSW has no regulatory role covering international seafaring."