Fishermen on strike against BP

[Hannah Bell]

Louisiana fishermen hired by BP to assist with cleanup efforts in the Gulf of Mexico went out on strike Tuesday to protest against the oil giant’s decision to force them to stay in quarter ships nicknamed “flotels.” Workers, who were obligated to stay on the ships for periods of 18 days straight with only 3 days off, were not paid for their time on the flotels.

The ships can house over 500 workers, with each compartment containing bunks lining the walls, up to 12 per room. Dining halls and showers are shared, with one bathroom for every 4 compartments.
BP is relocating workers to these ships in order to extract more productivity from them by eliminating the time it takes to transport workers to cleanup sites, and to save on the cost of hotels.

The local press in Louisiana this week reported the angry protests of some of the fishermen on strike in Myrtle Grove. Jules Dag, a fisherman for half a century who has been hired by BP to lay oil containment boom in the Gulf, told New Orleans’ WDSU station, “We’re on strike, so we’re not going to work. So got to sit here till we go back to work.” “I’m not living on no quarter boat,” he added, “When I signed up, the agreement was we lived at a motel or somewhere they supplied us to live.”

Like several other of the striking fishermen, Dag says cleanup workers are not being paid. “What are we suppose to do?,” he asked. “We ain’t been paid yet. We’ve used almost everything we got to live out here already. Forty days, we ain’t seen nothing yet. What are we supposed to do for money?”

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jul2010/gulf-j23.shtml