Foreign Workers Coming to a Cruise Ship Near You -new form of outsourcing

[Roland99]

Excuse me for linking to this but this should be seen.

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/4/28/170632.shtml

"Outsourcing" – which has become synonymous with sending American jobs to India or China – could soon mean foreign workers sleeping in ships just a few miles off America's coasts.

In an outrageous affront to U.S. labor laws, a California company plans to anchor a 600-cabin cruise ship just beyond the three-mile limit off the coast of El Segundo, near Los Angeles, and stock it with foreign software programmers.

The company, SeaCode, will seek to classify the workers as "seamen," avoiding U.S. payroll taxes and the need for immigration visas.

Programmers from places like India and Russia would work 8-hour or 10-hour shifts, either day or night. Take-home pay: About $21,500 a year.

[NewHampshireDem]

1. Dupe

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x3146618

I think it's a scam

[wakeme2008]

2. scam -- no way to make money with

the costs of the ship.

[fasttense]

3. You are absolutely right. There is no way running a 600 cabin

ship 24/7 with no port support would be cost effective. What about, food, trash, sewage, water, electricity, laundry the list goes on and on. Even nuclear subs have to come into port now and then and they ain't cheap to run.

[Paulie]

4. All depends on the billing rate

600 x $100/hr billing rate x 8 hours = 480,000 a day. Only cost 38,000 or so a day to pay the workers.

Make everyone wear the same jump suit, keeps laundry costs down. You would need to have an oil tanker and garbage barge supporting the boat, it can process it's own sewage and make it's own water.

[wakeme2008]

5. To do off shore work you would have to get the billing rate down to

an average of $40 per hour.

Add to that basic salaries of the programmers you would have the other ship crew for basic running of the ship say 100 people. (engineering, food service, laundry ship upkeep).

You would have to include all food and entrainment with the contacts.

Add to that the lease payments on a 15-20 Million dollar used ship.

Add to that per one article they would be moving the ship to the shore and docking once a week to resupply and dump trash and sewage.

One article said they would do 6-9 month contracts. If so in addition to their salary you would have to pay airfare home. (Same as Princess or another cruise line does with their "seamen".


All in all the price would be very high $$$$.....