Definiciones

The image of cruise ship employment as a ‘bad job’ is equally prominent in popular literature particularly in news reports that highlight the extreme physical and emotional labour that workers perform in difficult working conditions (see Table 6). Although work contracts stipulate that employees are expected to work 70 hours a week (48- hour regular work plus 22-hour overtime) (Fairplay 2003), there are recent reports of cruise sector seafarers working up to 100 hours a week (Bruns and Hutchinson 2015; Askin 2016; Presser 2017). This means that employees work up to 14 hours a day for six to nine months. For the service crew on-board, the job is as emotionally demanding as it is physically exhausting because they are expected to remain ‘consummate hosts’ who are always ‘happy, polite and positive’ (Kobus 2012c) even towards difficult passengers and when they are already fatigued. The typical work schedule of cruise sector seafarers make it virtually impossible to enjoy the supposed opportunities of global travel as some are required to work during port visits (e.g. cooks) whilst those who are allowed to visit the ports are only given less than five hours of shore leave (Example-1 in Table 7). This makes the fringe benefit of free travel as ‘inauthentic travel’ for the most part (Kobus 2012a; Hoeller 2016).

Table 7 Portraying ‘a bad life’ on-board a cruise ship

Source ‘Bad life’ on-board cruise ship

1. News Website (Charpentier n.d.)

You’re on one side of the world; your family and friends are on another... Shore leave is generally less than five hours... You might carry your cellphone, but the cost of using it will quickly eat up your funds. You are a member of the ship’s staff, not a vacationer. Wages

are not high and vary according to your job. If you're a member of

the hotel staff, your total compensation package includes the cost of

your room and board, a detail some cruise lines fail to mention. 2. News Website

(Bruns and

Hutchinson 2015)

'The worst part of the job is being 'owned' by the corporation. They

control what you eat, when you eat, when you can go use the toilet,

how cold it is in your cabin, everything. If you've already worked 12 hours that day and they need you for another four, you work it no

questions asked. 'Also annoying is how your day is structured: you

are never given a full night's sleep in ten months…Most crew will nap when they can because after months of that you're in perpetual

zombie-mode.' Note: Emphasis on cited text is added.

There are accounts that suggest that the chances of earning a high income are rather limited particularly for service workers whose compensation is largely dependent on fixed or discretionary gratuities. For example, one account says that junior waiters earn only about £250 per month (or 75p an hour if they work 11 hours per day) (Topham 2012). The service crew in bars and restaurants may be able to supplement their pay from passenger gratuities. In some ships, pre-debited electronic tips from passengers are preferred over cash tips. However, electronic tips, which may provide an additional £150 per month, are given to the crew only when a performance target of 96% customer satisfaction rating is attained (Topham 2012).

The living conditions of cruise ship workers are reportedly not as ‘promised’ either. One former crew member described the feeling of being ‘owned’ by the corporation (Example-2 in Table 7) as the ship’s management exerts control in almost all areas of their life whilst on-board including how tasks are done, food to eat, toilet breaks, who to mingle with, and access to passenger areas among others. Although food and accommodation are commonly described as ‘free’ in job advertisements, ‘room, board, medical coverage, disability and death benefits, recreational facilities’ are identified as non-cash compensation in work contracts (Fairplay 2003 p.15). Crew

cabins are significantly smaller than passenger cabins and accommodate up to four bunk beds in an already cramped space. Some cruise lines make adjustments in their menu to cater to an international crew but workers complain about the unappetising and low quality of food served in the crew mess (Kobus 2012c; Hullinger 2016). To reduce disorderly behaviour that may lead to the commission of crimes, the ship’s management impose strict rules limiting alcohol consumption, noise, and smoking, and they prohibit workers from dating or having romantic/sexual relationship with any of the passengers.

Given the weak international labour laws workers are left with extreme difficulty in pursuing lawsuits against cruise lines in cases of ‘unfair dismissals, wage claims and injuries’ (Fairplay 2003 p.15). In some instances, workers unknowingly sign a work contract which says that they waive their rights to seek protection under US laws should they be injured at work, and simply accept an out of court settlement where they receive only a fraction of what they could otherwise have claimed as compensation (Presser 2017).

These accounts suggest that cruise ship workers, particularly the lowest ranked, are overworked, have low pay, have little legal protection and are exposed to different hazards and health risks. It is not surprising therefore that former cruise ship workers (Bruns 2008; Bruns and Hutchinson 2015), labour unions (Mather 2002), news agencies (Reynolds and Weikel 2000), researchers (Klein 2002; Weaver 2005a; Bonmati 2016) have described cruise ships as a ‘sweatships’/’sweatshops’ characterised by exploitative working conditions.