Octubre 30, 2006
Cuban shipyard workers say they were forced to work as modern slaves at a Curacao ship repair company
By Frances Robles. frobles@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Sat, Oct. 28, 2006 in The Miami Herald.
The Cuban government conspired with a Curacao ship repair company to provide practically slave labor fixing up vessels, including Miami-based cruise ships, and kept workers under harsh conditions, a lawsuit filed in U.S. District court in Miami alleges.
The civil suit filed before Judge James Lawrence King alleges that up to 100 Cuban shipyard workers are forced to work against their will at Curacao Drydock Co., a ship repair company with an agent in Delray Beach, Klattenberg Marine Associates.
The suit, filed by three workers who escaped and now live in Florida, alleges they were ordered to work 16-hour shifts for $16 a month, a low wage common in their native Cuba.
''We started work at 3 in the afternoon and kept working until 7 a.m. the following day,'' plaintiff Alberto Justo Rodríguez told The Miami Herald. "We worked in the worst, most uncomfortable parts of the ship. Where nobody wanted to go -- that's where they sent the Cubans.''
112 HOURS A WEEK
According to the suit, the men often worked 112 hours a week.
Their wage amounted to 3 ½ cents an hour.
The suit was filed two months ago and was first reported Friday by The Associated Press.
Rodríguez, a former shipyard worker in Cuba, was summoned to the Ministry of Transportation in 2001 for a mandatory transfer to Curacao. Upon arrival on the Caribbean island, he says, his passport was seized.
He and up to 100 other Cubans worked on a joint venture with the Cuban government and Curacao Drydock, a company that does shipyard repair, including work for U.S.-based cruise lines, oil companies and shipping firms.
The joint venture between the Cuban government and Curacao Drydock has Cuba providing the workers for the company, providing a source of cash for the Cuban government, the suit alleges.
Curacao Drydock, the suit alleges, knew the Cuban workers were being held against their will.
A written statement provided by Curacao Drydock attorney Matt Triggs to The Miami Herald says many of the suit's allegations are directed at the Cuban government.
''There are allegations, however, regarding the health and safety of our employees that are of great concern to Curacao Drydock Co.,'' the statement said, stressing that the company has safety measures in place. "Nevertheless, the company is undertaking a full investigation of the allegations.''
The suit claims the men were forced to labor in sweltering weather and dangerous conditions, like hanging from scaffolds. When Rodríguez broke his foot and ankle in 2002 while scraping rust from the hull of a ship, he was sent home to heal -- and then ordered back after his recovery.
The suit claims plaintiff Luis Alberto Casanova once suffered an electric shock but was forced to finish his shift despite bleeding from his tongue.
The workers' supervisors were other Cubans, including a nephew of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, the suit alleges.
''They always told us if we didn't work, they'd throw us out of the country, fire us and send us to jail,'' Rodríguez said. "Really, we were slaves. We didn't have a voice or a vote.''
FORCED VIEWING
On time off, Rodríguez said, they were forced to watch videos of political speeches, marches and the Cuban government Mesa Redonda -- Round Table -- TV news shows. He escaped in 2004 and now works odd jobs in Hialeah.
The suit was filed by Miami Beach lawyer John Andres Thornton under the Aliens Tort Act, which allows foreigners to file civil suits in U.S. federal courts when an international law has been violated.
Curacao Drydock has asked the judge to dismiss the complaint for lack of jurisdiction.
The suit seeks unspecified damages. No trial date has been set.
Co-plaintiffs Fernando Alonso Hernández worked in Curacao from 1995 until he fled in January 2005. He and the third plaintiff, Luis Alberto Casanova, who worked in Curacao from 2002 until 2005, now work in shipyards in Tampa.
One of the plaintiffs, Thornton said, now makes in an hour what he used to get in a month.
