Don’t forget the litigious nature of American employees when compared to other countries. That is also a factor for ship owners in determining crew costs.
I’m not sure that’s really that big of a difference once you break it down to dollars (cents) per unit cargo.
There isn’t $50 of ship board labor in $2,600 transpacific container. Most of the labor cost per box is in the US longshoremen.
you are liable to pay taxes however if you worked 11 months with an international company you won’t pay a tax but the cap is 96 G /year foreign income
This is true to an extent, there are other costs before any cargo leaves port, shipping costs, tax, duty, etc. Become a longshoreman if it is such a lucrative job.Shipping used to be a lucrative job until the unions sold out and became employment agencies. Though longshoremen can be a PIA they take care of their own and are the last of a dying breed of working folks making a good wage that fight for it and I respect that. At the end of the day the cost they add to the individual contents of a container can likely be measured in pennies. I have no problem paying an extra nickel for a bag of candy or anything else transported and unloaded by US labor. Of course to a multinational/USA corporation every extra penny a longshoreman makes is a penny stolen from the corporation, which is just a terrible thing.
Can’t park a maxed out 401k out front of the bar.
The boat loads of money are relative. The maritime industry is up and down, particularly for US mariners. You can make $200,000+/year for a few years but then be struggling to make $50,000 when times are slow. The 4 year degree and accompanying license from a maritime school will when amortized over a career afford you no better average income than any other technical education. For every person I have known that banked their money while sailing and invested it wisely I know 50 others who came and blew it all. With the globalization of shipping and low oil prices I do not expect any gold rush for US mariners soon, if ever.
That’s sort of my point. Four years at an academy, somebody should mention things like the industry goes up and down, save some cash, if your employer offers a matching contribution take it, and for fcuk’s sake yes you have to pay taxes.
That about sums it up. I’m not sure there is enough in it for even 1 credit. But if they did have a course, that could be the textbook.
Had an instructor that did just that for two class sessions. One of the best I had that then went on to be commandant at TMA. Then got smart and sick of the bureaucracy and went back to sea.
This is an anit-union talking point. I had a few mariners from the oil patch come over during the slowdown. They totally believed that labor unions and employment agencies were one and the same.
It was surprising and confusing to them to learn that there was an enforceable contract aboard and the union officials are members that run for election and win. An employment agency has neither of these characteristics.
I don’t know much about employment agencies but I would have guessed that they had a contract.
I worked in Brazil back in the mid 2000’s. Never entered the US until tax season when I did my taxes, then flew back to Brazil, spent less than a week in the states. 4 years later, got the letter from the IRS, you owe us, went to lawyers around town, all said the same thing, you have to pay. Some get by, others get caught. I got caught and so did my relief.
Was it in a US flag vessel?
Or move to the CNMI (Commonwealth of the northern Marinas Islands) i.e. Saipan, Rota, and possibly in the territory of Guam.
Nope. You have to pay there too. Ask me how I know.
I know a few mariners out here that just declare low money and file, problem is what do you do with the money as the US GOV has tried to tell the worlds banks, please tell us about any bank accounts you have with Americans.
So you cant work for an American company as they can ask…
Hence i know plenty that have got new passports…
I was speaking of AMO, specifically. Other unions still are more or less traditional unions but operating under an increasing adversity due to the anti union climate. There is NOTHING anti union about me, quite the contrary.
Had you opened an account in Brazil or a Caribbean Island and had your money deposited there you should have been OK. I did for years but dutifully paid taxes on the money I transferred to the USA.
I finally got my CPF card for Brazil, bought an apartment, I paid for it but had to put it in my GF’s name, pre CPF, even went and registered into the Brazil system, I can now buy land, buy apartments and pretty much everything else, went with my now wife to open a bank account, because I now work elsewhere and not in Brazil, no bank account.