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Collective legal action

Claim your rightful wages!

Philippine & Indonesian crew members on ships flying the Dutch flag were discriminated against. You can claim your lost wages if:
  • You worked on a ship under the Dutch flag
  • In the past 5 years
  • While living in Indonesia/ the Philippines

Why take action?

If you worked for a ship flying the Dutch flag you were likely underpaid because of discrimination between European and Asian seafarers. Europeans are paid up to twice as much as Indonesian and Filipino crew members for the exact same job on the same ship.
​​No matter what your contract says, wage discrimination is strictly prohibited under Dutch law. You are entitled to be paid the same as any European crew member with the same job.

Articles of law

"The employee is entitled to the same employment conditions as those of employees who are working in identical positions or positions of equal value … with regard to wages and other compensation.”
Assignment by Employment Agencies
Art. 8(1)(a)
“It is unlawful to discriminate in or with regard to … terms and conditions of employment …”
Equal treament law
(Netherlands). Art. 5 (1)(e)
“This law [is] also applicable to work performed wholly or partly outside the Netherlands by persons working on seafaring ships that are authorized under Dutch law to sail under the flag of the Kingdom.”
Assignment by Employment Agencies 
Art. 1(a)
  • "The employee is entitled to the same employment conditions as those of employees who are working in identical positions or positions of equal value … with regard to wages and other compensation.”
    Assignment by Employment Agencies
    Art. 8 (1)(a)
  • “It is unlawful to discriminate in or with regard to … terms and conditions of employment …”
    Equal treament law
    (Netherlands). Art. 5 (1)(e)
  • “This law [is] also applicable to work performed wholly or partly outside the Netherlands by persons working on seafaring ships that are authorized under Dutch law to sail under the flag of the Kingdom.”
    Assignment by Employment Agencies 
    Art. 1(a)
Am I eligible to join this legal action?

You are eligible if:

requirement : 1/3
You worked as a seafarer on a ship sailing under the Dutch flag. 
requirement : 2/3
Your last day of work on that ship was in the past five years.
requirement : 3/3
When you were hired to work on the ship you were living in Indonesia or the Philippines. 
Join the claim here
The Equal Justice Equal Pay Foundation

The Equal Justice Equal Pay Foundation is a well-funded organization.

The Equal Justice Equal Pay Foundation is a powerful and well-funded organization.

To hold the Dutch shipping companies ship operators and/or shipowners accountable and help Indonesian and Filipino seafarers recover their illegally withheld wages, the Equal Justice Equal Pay Foundation is preparing to bring legal action in the Netherlands on behalf of seafarers who lived in the Philippines or Indonesia at the time of their employment.

The Equal Justice Equal Pay Foundation has appointed specialist disputes law firm, Rubicon Impact & Litigation, based in Amsterdam, to represent the Foundation in this case. The lawyers appointed for the case are:

Frank Peters
a partner at Rubicon Impact & Litigation with 24 years of experience practicing law who has particular expertise in commercial, international and group litigation.
Read more
Maxime Eljon
an associate at Rubicon Impact & Litigation who specializes in dispute resolution, including mass damage cases and international commercial contracts, with a particular expertise in tort law. She is currently involved in a number of group actions involving human rights violations.
Read more
Sarah Stapel
As an associate at Rubicon who specialises in the protection of fundamental rights through
collective redress. She is involved in multiple class actions that seek protection of
fundamental rights and compensation for the violation thereof.
Read more

How does it work?

Seafarers who do not register with our Foundation, may not be entitled to back-pay or any other financial recovery through our Foundation. If you register, you can participate, together with thousands of other seafarers, on a no-win, no-fee basis. You owe no lawyer or anyone any fee or costs unless we succeed in getting you a recovery of wrongly-withheld wages. If we recover your backpay, a percentage of the proceeds will cover payment for the services provided to the seafarers, including the legal work performed and the funding fee. It’s time to make Dutch shipowners pay you the same wages as your European colleagues.
01
Register
Complete the form with basic personal details and upload copies of past and present employment contracts.
Register here
02
Review
Your submission will be reviewed and included in our collective action if found eligible.
Register here
03
Start claim
We will start legal proceedings
in the Netherlands on behalf of the collective group of seafarers who have joined our case.
Register here
04
Winning the case
If we successfully recover withheld wages we will transfer your share of the awarded sum to the bank account of your choice, after deduction of the cost as stated in the terms.
Register here
Seafarers who do not register with our Foundation, may not be entitled to back-pay or any other financial recovery through our Foundation. If you register, you can participate, together with thousands of other seafarers, on a no-win, no-fee basis. You owe no lawyer or anyone any fee or costs unless we succeed in getting you a recovery of wrongly-withheld wages. If we recover your backpay, a percentage of the proceeds will cover payment for the services provided to the seafarers, including the legal work performed and the funding fee. It’s time to make Dutch shipowners pay you the same wages as your European colleagues.

I am not eligible, but how can I help?

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FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

See more
Dutch shipowners discriminate. They pay Indonesian and Filipino crew members 60-65 percent less than others. This is against the law.

The Equal Justice Equal Pay Foundation will initiate a lawsuit in the Netherlands to recover the difference in your pay over the past 5 years.
You are eligible if you lived in Indonesia or the Philippines and worked on a Dutch-owned ship any time in the past 5 years (including today).
After you register, we will investigate your claim and check if all information is complete. We may follow up with further information requests. Once our group is large enough, we will launch our lawsuit in the Netherlands to recover the pay wrongfully withheld from you. Only if you registered with our group you can receive back pay through our Foundation, if we are successful.
Yes. You will not be charged for participating. We work on a no cure no pay basis. This means that only if the case is successful, will we charge fees and costs. These will be deducted from the compensation you receive.
We strive to retrieve your back pay as soon as possible. We will reach out to the shipowners before filing our case and at regular intervals to speed up the process and seek a speedy out-of-court resolution to get you your backpay as soon as reasonably possible. If the shipowners are unwilling to do the right thing, our legal action may take several years. Regular updates will be posted here.
See more
Claim your lost wages

Do you want to recover money Dutch shipowners withheld from you?

You are entitled to be paid the same as any European crew member with the same job.
Join the legal claim here
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