International Seafarers Center, a safety net for mariners, seeks secure funding stream
The International Seafarers Center (ISC), located in the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex, is a non-profit organization with a mission to provide a home away from home for sailors, providing a safe place for them to relax, sleep and access communication and transportation services.
International seafarers are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, as they are isolated and far from home. In addition, there are few legal protections for workers at sea, and ship owners often utilize the “flags of convenience” system that allows them to register vessels in countries with little regulation or oversight.
“Seafarers are the invisible link in the supply chain,” said ISC Board Chairman Guy Fox. “Nobody sees them. They see these big container vessels, but they don’t see what goes on inside them or the workers who make it all happen. They are all skilled workers. They don’t make very much money, and what money they do make goes home to their families.”
In order to combat this deprivation, the ISC has been providing facilities and services for the recreational, personal, and cultural needs of merchant mariners for approximately 35 years. It survives on grants, two yearly fundraising events, and periodic donations. The ISC is currently working towards securing stable and consistent sources of funding to keep the center afloat for the long term.
The center provides a variety of important services to the thousands of seafarers that call on the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex, including:
- Temporary housing with bedding, bathrooms, showers, a kitchen, and other basic amenities that seafarers need when coming to port;
- Communication services, such as phones, internet, and computers, so seafarers can communicate with family and friends;
- Ministry services to tend to the spiritual needs of seafarers;
- Transportation services via 3-fleet van to necessary destinations such as the port, banking and groceries.
- Free library, exercise equipment, and a small store with basic supplies.
Home away from home
Retired Navy Captain Dick McKenna, who serves as the President and CEO of the ISC, said that the Center can see more than a dozen seafarers using the facility at any given time, with some staying for several days to a week. He said the ISC provides seafarers with a “home away from home” and a comfortable place to stay while they are off ship.
“These are not stereotypical sailors who want to go out carousing and hitting up the bars,” McKenna said. “They have families and just want a comfortable place to relax when they are in port.”
The center operates out of a building on land owned and donated to the ISC, by the Port of Long Beach. The Port recently helped to renovate the space by installing new windows, among many other improvements. However, the ISC pays for all the ongoing operating expenses, including the property taxes on the building.
Layer of protection
Local 13 Executive Board member Sal DiCostanzo said that the ISC not only provides important resources to seafarers, but is also a refuge that can help protect them from exploitation. During the pandemic, the ISC worked closely with the Port of Long Beach, the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services, and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) to provide free COVID vaccinations to more than 13,500 seafarers. Unscrupulous ship agents were trying to charge desperate seafarers $300 for the vaccine.
“These workers are making $600 a month on average and some agents were trying to get half a month’s pay from them for a vaccine that was ultimately made available at no cost. That’s one example of why a place like this is so important,” DiCostanzo said.
“It’s not just for the amenities that the ISC offers, but they also help check the people that would otherwise take advantage of the crewmen,” DiCostanzo said. He added, “The ITF uses this facility as a launching pad to intervene on the mariners behalf, making sure that seafarers are getting paid properly, that they are not being otherwise abused. These are the workers that bring the cargo to our ports. We have a responsibility to watch their backs.”
Network of support
McKenna recalled a situation about 10 years ago when a ship caught the eye of the local ITF inspector. “A ship that pulled in—it was a rust bucket—watertight integrity was looking terrible, and everything was rusty, so the ITF went onboard and they discovered the crew hadn’t been paid,” McKenna said. “The inspector turned it over to the Coast Guard, who arrested the ship and then the owner of the ship just walked away, leaving the Filipino crew stranded with no money and no way to return home.”
He said the ISC worked with the local Filipino community to raise money for the stranded crew so they could get home and give them a bit of money to recoup some of their wages that were stolen from them by the employer.
“Seafarers are the most vulnerable workers of the supply chain,” said Local 13 Vice President Vic Zuniga. “In many regards, they don’t have a voice and don’t have a lot of people looking out for their best interests. They should feel assured that when they come into this port, they will have dignity, and respect, and will be assisted to get basic necessities while they are here.”
Fight for funding
The ISC supports itself with two annual fundraisers, grants, donations—including a $10,000 donation recently approved by the Local 13, 63, and 94 Executive Boards—and a small voluntary fee of $35 billed to shipping companies for every ship arrival in the ports of Los Angeles or Long Beach. “We get something like a 25 percent response from all the ships that arrive here,” McKenna said. Only a few companies—Pasha, APL, and Matson—pay the voluntary fee, according to the ISC.
“I’ve told both Ports that the International Seafarers Center is an integral part of the port complex, and we should be on their budget,” Fox said. “We want a five-star Seafarer’s Center to represent this five-star port complex.”
The ISC is careful with its resources, with only two employees who collect a modest salary. Both McKenna and Fox work pro bono and do not receive a salary. McKenna said that the seafarers who stay there often help during their stay by performing maintenance and repair work.
Pat Pettit, one of the center’s managers, has been with the ISC since the beginning. “I’m 73 now and I’ve been here since I was young,” Pettit said. “I used to work in the port. My grandfather sailed, my dad sailed, and my stepdad sailed. I know how hard this work is. My dad was never home for birthdays, Christmas, or anything like that. I didn’t understand at the time, but when I got older, I realized he was out there working for us.”
Labor helping labor
“The Local 13 Executive Board voted unanimously to donate to the ISC, and Local 13 President Ramon Ponce de Leon Jr. has been active in encouraging support for the Seafarers Center,” Zuniga said. “We understand the importance of the services that this facility provides to seafarers and how this place has become a necessity for them.”
“This facility is more than just somewhere to sleep, somewhere to get something to eat, and transportation to go pick up supplies—things that we take for granted daily,” said Zuniga. “It’s labor helping labor, and that is why we’re firmly behind this organization. I think that we will continue to provide support and work to ensure that they continue to be able to provide these important services to seafarers when they come to our port.”
DiCostanzo said the ILWU challenged marine terminal operators to match the ILWU Tri-Party Local donation. “Some of them did, and some donated that maybe hadn’t donated in the past, but it’s about raising awareness and doing right by the most vulnerable link in the supply chain,” said DiCostanzo.