A migrant fisherman engaged on a prawn boat off the Dublin coast has instructed the Office Relations Fee that he and two colleagues labored as much as 17 hours a day at sea and are owed €140,000 in unpaid wages.
The fisherman produced {a photograph} of what he stated was a clean time sheet that his employer instructed him to signal. A solicitor for the employer stated that the photographed type in actual fact advised that there was no fishing in the course of the interval in query.
The three fishermen labored aboard the Skerries-based trawler Nausicaa. They declare the statutory working time data for the trawler usually are not correct and that they’re collectively owed about €140,000.
Khaled Elagamy, Mohamed Shokr Ghonim and Salem Elfeky have all lodged complaints beneath the Fee of Wages Act and the Nationwide Minimal Wage Act in opposition to the vessel’s proprietor, Richard Brannigan. Mr Brannigan denies any breaches of employment legislation and maintains all three of the boys had been correctly paid.
Giving proof to a listening to at Lansdowne Home, Dublin 4, on Thursday, Mr Elagamy stated he had labored as a share fisherman for Mr Brannigan from 2014 to 2016 when he was positioned on a contract according to the federal government’s work allow scheme for undocumented crew within the sector.
His commerce union consultant, Michael O’Brien of the Worldwide Transport Staff’ Federation, requested the witness whether or not he was given a month-to-month type along with his hours of labor and relaxation intervals according to the necessities of the scheme.
“I get a type empty and I signal with nothing crammed in it,” replied Mr Elagamy, including in response to additional questioning that he “didn’t see any recorded hours on the sheet”.
He confirmed he had photographed such a type, which was included within the complainant submissions.
Mr Elagamy stated that when the Nausicaa was on the fishing floor the crew would work as much as 20 hours a day, performing 4 pictures of the web and dealing to grade and clear the catch for some three hours after bringing it aboard.
Mr O’Brien put it to him that Mr Brannigan maintained that there have been days when the boat was at sea and he was not at work. “No, the boat can not work with out us,” replied Mr Elagamy.
Mr O’Brien requested his consumer about two dates in Might and August 2021 when the employer’s data indicated he had not been at work when he stated the Nausicaa had been at sea.
Mr Elgamy stated he had been at work on each dates and added: “How may I be on the boat and never working?”
Processing the catch
He stated that along with hauling the nets and processing the catch, he additionally needed to do his share of watch-keeping and steering the vessel — an obligation which he stated may final an hour or as much as three or 4 hours. Whereas at sea, he stated, he obtained simply seven hours’ sleep within the house of per week.
Mr Elagamy was cross-examined by Ruairí Ó Cathán of Conway Solicitors, for the respondent, who put it to him that his commerce union had equipped {a photograph} it argued was a clean type.
“You supplied this, which isn’t significantly clear. I can’t make out the date. I can’t make out the feedback on the right-hand facet of [the] sheet,” he stated.
“I do know that appears very like ‘NF’ and ‘NF’ means ‘no fishing’ and on that foundation if there isn’t a fishing there’s going to be no hours crammed out, in order that’s why that seems to be clean,” he stated.
He produced what he stated was a “clear copy” of an instance of the shape in respect of an NF interval.
Mr O’Brien objected to the manufacturing of the time sheets at this stage, arguing that his facet didn’t have possession of the fabric the employer was searching for to introduce. The adjudicating officer agreed, with “nice reluctance”, to adjourn the listening to to permit the complainants time to overview the time sheets.