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Even in Southern California, which is surpassed only by south Florida as a region crucial to the industry, the large work force behind the cruise business is often overlooked. The typical passenger ship is "a sweatshop at sea," an "ocean-going maquiladora," charged Paul Chapman, a Baptist minister who founded the Center for Seafarers Rights in New York in 1981. "A ship owner can go any place in the world, pick up anybody he wants, on almost any terms. If the owner wants to maximize profit at the expense of people, it's a piece of cake."
Among workers, the tales of jobs gone awry are common: The $422-a-month Costa Rican cleaning woman who contracted gangrene while under a doctor's care and lost a hand. The crew members who made under-the-table payments to recruiters for jobs that didn't exist. The injured seafarer who was sent by his employer to a foreign country for medical care, with dire consequences. At Windjammer Barefoot Cruises, 31 crewmen were lost in 1998 after their ship put to sea despite an approaching hurricane. At another cruise line, Royal Caribbean, workers have accused the company in court of underpaying wages by $55 million since 1996.
"Sure, you make some money," said former Carnival chef Luis Rodriguez, 45, of Colombia. "But it's so risky, that kind of money. To tell you the truth, it's like jail, with a few more accommodations. You don't see your family. You don't see land most of the time." The majority of vessels in the North American market are owned by Carnival Corp., Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and Princess Cruises. With their subsidiaries, those three enterprises sail 72 ships and carry 78% of the trade, yet operate largely outside American labor and tax laws.
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