ILWU & Migrant Organizations Defend Grand Princess Crew & US Workers

An Injury To One Is An Injury To All: IWLU/Migrant Organizations Defend Grand Princess Crew & All Workers

ILWU and IBU unionists joined with migrant community activists to call for the repatriation of the Grand Princess crew as well as proper healthcare for port and all US workers.

Speakers also reported the Cal-OSHA has only 1 doctor and 1 nurse for 19 million workers and they have not been able to. go on the ship to see what the safety conditions are.

There are less that 200 OSHA inspectors for California workers.

Speakers at the event included:
— Robert Irminger, Chair of the ILWU Inlandboatmen’s Union Bay Area
— Jack Heyman, chair of the Transport Workers Solidarity Committee, retired ILWU longshoreman and former Ship Inspector for the International Transport Workers Federation.
— Trent Willis, President of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 10 representing dockworkers in the port of Oakland and San Francisco.
— Ricky Cox, Vice President of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 34 representing ship clerks in the port of Oakland and San Francisco.
— Terry Valen, Director, Filipino Community Center, and President, National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON)
— Jenabi Pareja, Spokesperson, Migrante Norcal
— Steve Zeltzer, WorkWeek KPOO, Pacifica Labor Correspondent
— Dr. Nayvin Gordon, Medical Advocate for Poor & Working People

The ILWU also reported that the PMA has refused to provide proper protection for their members who work on the port.

This event was sponsored by United Public Workers For Action
http://www.upwa.info
&
The Transport Workers Solidarity Committee.
http://www.transportworkers.org

Additional media:

"Prisoners On The Grand Princess Petri Dish” Will The Crew Be Quarantined To Die On The Sea?]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0ZwWb6cieE&t=208s

Feds say they will evacuate, quarantine passengers from Grand Princess but not the crew
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/feds-say-they-will-evacuate-quarantine-passengers-from-grand-princess-but-not-the-crew/ar-BB10RZN6

518 Filipinos among the crew members of the Grand Princess
6 Filipinos aboard Grand Princess cruise ship reportedly test positive for COVID-19
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1238166/who-6-filipinos-aboard-grand-princess-cruise-ship-reportedly-test-positive-for-covid-19#ixzz6GOigslZW

Coronavirus, Worker Dangers & Crisis In CA with Dr. Larry Rose Former Medical Director Cal-OSHA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8VZ6EuI6kQ

"When Nurses Aren't Safe, Patients Aren't Safe" UCSF NNU-CNA Nurses Rally On Coronavirus Pandemic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTbtM_5p9jY

National Nurses United Response To COVID-19
https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/covid-19

UCSF Nurses Say We Are Not Prepared For Ebola! NNU CNA Nurses Demand Mandatory Protocols
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIIEnJuMhl4

Production of Labor Video Project
http://www.laborvideo.org



International Dockworkers Council
Coordination Office C/Mar,97-4o·08003Barcelona·Spain ■ Ph:+34932252528 ■ Fax:+34932216588 coordination [at] idcdockworkers.org

March 13, 2020

Call for medical attention for the crew of the Grand Princess cruise

The cruise ship Grand Princess, finally docked in the port of Oakland, California, after four days in front the coast of Sant Francisco waiting for the final decision of the officials, is unloading all of its passengers on board.

Passengers are being redirected to various US military bases for quarantine or put into charter flights in case of non-US citizens; while the more than one thousand members of the crew are retained inside the Grand Princess.

Of these crew members, 19 have tested positive for covid-19, but are still not receiving the same treatment as the passengers, being quarantined on board, in isolated chambers.
Princess Cruisers has declared the infected crewmembers as "asymptomatic", apparently enough reason not to treat them as the passengers, with the risk this entails for their own health and the one of their colleagues. On the contrary, passengers infected of covid-19, have been sent to hospitals.

The International Dockworkers Council (IDC) calls on the competent authorities and the cruise line to provide immediate medical attention in hospital conditions to those affected and to carry out the necessary checks to ensure that the rest of the crew is not infected.

In the face of a humanitarian crisis such as the one described, we must show solidarity and provide the necessary means, including repatriation if necessary, rather than acting in a discriminatory and, in our view, negligent manner.

In solidarity,
International Council of Dockworkers -IDC-