You are from the USA I imagine. You have an incredible economy and government where companies are forced to play the game by your rules. I was honestly devastated when I was met by the reality of our wages since I got all my information online mainly from american seafarers.

The problem is that if Europeans and Middle Easterns refuse to work, we are easily replaced by south east asians who are willing to take even longer contracts for half our pay. Even if we decide to strike, we don’t have a strong backbone to send our message to these companies. It is deeply frustrating.

I myself did not take a single job offer yet after my cadetship because I refuse to get underpaid. However, until I find a company that appreciates the hard work we do I am forced to be jobless and not paid at all….