An inflation update: in the past I've focused on a measure that excludes lagging shelter and used cars as well as food and energy. Just to note that it adds to the evidence that inflation has been largely defeated

It is accompanied by a line graph titled "CPI ex food, energy, shelter and used cars" with months from January 2018 to May 2023 on the x-axis and "6 month growth, annualized" on the y-axis. Inflation hovers around 1% to 2% up until March 2020, at which point it drops precipitously to around -1.5%. It climbs steadily to a peak of 7% around April 2022, then descends at about the same rate to 2% in September 2023 (the time of the tweet).

Feds Recently Hit Cargo Giant In Baltimore Disaster For Silencing Whistleblowers

Regulators cited Maersk for its “illegal policy” blocking employees from reporting safety concerns to the Coast Guard.

The company that chartered the cargo ship that destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore was recently sanctioned by regulators for blocking its employees from directly reporting safety concerns to the U.S. Coast Guard — in violation of a seaman whistleblower protection law, according to regulatory filings reviewed by The Lever.

Eight months before a Maersk Line Limited-chartered cargo ship crashed into the Baltimore bridge, likely killing six people and injuring others, the Labor Department sanctioned the shipping conglomerate for retaliating against an employee who reported unsafe working conditions aboard a Maersk-operated boat. In its order, the department found that Maersk had “a policy that requires employees to first report their concerns to [Maersk]... prior to reporting it to the [Coast Guard] or other authorities.”

Federal regulators at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which operates under the Labor Department, called the policy “repugnant” and a “reprehensible and an egregious violation of the rights of employees,” which “chills them from contacting the [Coast Guard] or other authorities without contacting the company first.”

Maersk’s reporting policy was approved by company executives, federal regulators found in their investigation into the incident. 

“[Maersk’s] Vice President of Labor Relations, admits that this Reporting Policy requires seamen to report safety concerns to the company and allow it time to abate the conditions before reporting to the [Coast Guard] or other regulatory agencies,” Labor Department investigators said in their report.

During their investigation into Maersk, federal officials said there was “reasonable cause to believe” that the company’s policy violated the Seaman’s Protection Act, which protects maritime workers who speak out about unsafe working conditions. Officials ordered the company to reinstate the employee and pay over $700,000 in damages and back wages. They also demanded that Maersk revise its policy to allow seamen to contact the Coast Guard about safety concerns before notifying the company. 

The fired employee was a chief mate on the Safmarine Mafadi, a Maersk-operated vessel, who also served as a relief captain when needed. The seaman reported unrepaired leaks, unpermitted alcohol consumption onboard, inoperable lifeboats, faulty emergency fire suppression equipment, and other issues. 

Before he was fired, the employee was disciplined for not properly maintaining the logbook and failing to properly follow orders. The fired employee told federal regulators that he believed these disciplinary actions were “retaliation for reporting alcohol consumption on board the vessel.”

Maersk did not respond to Lever questions about the Labor Department’s findings and its previous policy on workplace safety reporting ahead of publication. 

In a comment to other news outlets, Maersk stated: “We are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected. We can confirm that the container vessel ‘DALI’, operated by charter vessel company Synergy Group, is time chartered by Maersk and is carrying Maersk customers’ cargo. No Maersk crew and personnel were onboard the vessel. We are closely following the investigations conducted by authorities and Synergy, and we will do our utmost to keep our customers informed.”

Whistleblower Protection

The Seaman’s Protection Act was enacted in 1984 to protect maritime workers who reported statutory violations to the Coast Guard from company retaliation. These employees had been left out of other whistleblower laws at the time. In 2010, the legislation was amended to also safeguard employees who refused to perform certain duties due to fears of personal injury. 

Enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, companies that violate the Seaman’s Protection Act can be subject to hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines. The Coast Guard also encourages employees to “report any hazardous condition before it results in a costly mishap.”

Despite the law explicitly protecting maritime employees from workplace abuses including whistleblower retaliation, experts say there have been relatively few whistleblower complaints. In 2017, a case involving the Seaman’s Protection Act made it to the Supreme Court seeking to protect a New York harbor worker, a “persistent safety advocate,” who had been fired after reporting dangerous conditions, though the court declined to hear the case.

Many maritime employers have a similar policy that prevents employees from directly contacting the Coast Guard, or other regulatory agencies, according to Eric Rhine, a lawyer specializing in maritime injuries, aviation accident claims, and other issues at the Spagnoletti Law Firm. 

In a blog post, Rhine highlighted a previous whistleblower retaliation case that found it was “‘standard business practice’ for employers to prohibit any direct contact by employees with government regulatory bodies.”

Rhine also highlighted that maritime employees, who face many work hazards, have a right to report unsafe conditions aboard their vessels to federal regulators. 

“Sometimes accidents occur when they could have been avoided if proper and reasonable care was taken by those responsible for safe working conditions,” Rhine wrote. “These accidents can leave employees with lasting impairment that prevents them from ever working again. Of course, even worse, they can be deadly.”

Total Collapse

The vessel that crashed into the Baltimore bridge, ‘DALI’, was chartered by Maersk and operated by Synergy Marine Group, a ship management company based in Singapore. The ship had a crew of 22 foreign workers from India. The boat is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and was headed to Sri Lanka.

Maersk, which is headquartered in Copenhagen, is one of the world’s largest shipping companies, reporting more than $51 billion in revenue in 2023. The company operates in 130 countries and employs 100,000 workers, according to its annual report. As of December 2023, Maersk owned 310 ships and was chartering 362, which they say is one of the world’s largest container shipping fleets.   

Since 2021, Maersk has spent $2.7 million lobbying Congress and federal regulators on workers compensation, as well as port congestion and infrastructure issues, among other concerns, regulatory filings show.

Since last summer, Maersk has been battling the International Longshoremen’s Association — a labor union that represents 65,000 maritime workers, including Maersk employees — over labor unrest at a port in Alabama.

In August 2023, APM Terminals, a division of Maersk, sued the union, claiming that workers at its Mobile, Alabama port were on strike illegally during an active contract. The court case is ongoing, and documents filed by the union in March allege that the company illegally suspended six workers for “raising a concern about a safety issue at the job site.”

As of publication time, rescuers have suspended the search for six missing construction workers who were working on the Baltimore bridge at the time of the collapse. The workers are presumed dead, officials said. One body was reportedly recovered from the river on Tuesday.

1 And it was after these things, and there was a man from the city of the Field of Spring and his name was Shalmer, the great supervisor over all its learnings. 2 And it was one day, and Shalmer rose and went by Simor Haskiner, administrator of the school house, and he came to the entrance of his house. 3 And Shalmer said to him, saying: "Lo, Simor, behold I have come before thee, for I have transgressed thine instructions." 4 And Simor answered and said, "Ah, my lord supervisor! 5 Peace be upon thee, and I hope that thou mayest be prepared for a feast not to be forgot!" And Shalmer groaned and came after him. 6 And Simor came alone towards the kitchen, and saw, and behold, the oven was all asmoke, and he cried a great cry. 7 And he said, "Ah, my God, for ruined, ruined is the fire-roasted meat I have made!" 8 And he said, "But were I to purchase myself food of haste and cover them as my own food...", and he laughed, and he said in his heart, "How beautiful and how sweet is this thing, to serve as an adversary, Simor!" 9 And he opened the window and lifted his leg to leave it, and behold, Shalmer standing in the entrance to the kitchen!

10 Thus say the bards: "Haskiner, in his explanations of insanity. 11 Is there no balm for the chief of supervisors? And when he hears all of his bloated mutterings, there will be strife in the city this night!" 12 And Shalmer cried and called: "Simor, Simor!" And he said, "Ah, my lord supervisor! 13 Behold I stretch myself in my calves upon the posts of this window, so as to strengthen the body in equal measure. And if thou wouldst join me, join me!" 14 And Shalmer said to Simor saying: "Why doth thine oven smoke, Simor?" And he said, "Please, my Lord, 15 it is not smoke that rises from mine oven, but steam, steam, for the steamed sea fruits that we shall eat! And behold, what is well flavored as steamed sea fruits?" 16 And Shalmer left the kitchen, and Simor saw and left towards Qerustiberg and took a plate of kuftaoth of meat.

17 And he again came towards the kitchen and he said to Shalmer, saying: "I hope, hope that thou mayest be prepared for a feast well-flavoured of kuftaoth of meat!" 18 And the supervisor was confounded, and asked Simor, saying: "Yea, was it not heard in mine ears that behold, we are to eat steamed sea fruits?" 19 And Simor answered and said: "Not steamed sea-fruits, but steamed portions of Cham, for I call kuftaoth by that name." 20 And Shalmer asked and said: "Thou callest kuftaoth by the name 'steamed portions of Cham'?" 21 And Simor answered and said: "I call them by that name, for it is in the way of the speech of my land." 22 And Shalmer asked and said: "What is thy land, whose way is to speak such as this?" 23 And Simor answered and said: "The far-reaches of the north, the region of Neve Jorech." 24 And he said, "Speakest thou thruth? For from the ancient [Hebrew: ʿAtiqah] city am I, and I have never heard this matter of 'steamed portions of Cham' from all the mouths of my comrades." And behold, the ancient city was within the far-reaches of the north, the region of Neve Jorech. 25 And Simor answered and said, "No, not in the ancient city, for they speak such as this in the city of Baal-Beni." 26 And Shalmer said, "I have seen," and bit the kuftaoth and said, "Behold, these kuftaoth seem as the kuftaoth of Qerustiberger!" 27 And Simor denied and said, "No, ah, no, for listed kuftaoth of Haskiner are these, as an old teaching of my clan." 28 And he yet again asked and said, "An old teaching upon the matter of 'steamed portions of Cham'?" And he answered and said "Upon them it is." 29 And he answered and said, "And thus thou callest them by the name 'steamed portions of Cham', but with all this it is clear in my eyes that these are roasted." 30 And he delayed, and Simor requested Shalmer saying: "Permit me for just one moment," and Shalmer said, "I have permitted thee." 31 And Simor left from by the table and opened the door of the kitchen, and saw, and behold, the kitchen was aflame in fire. 32 And he returned towards the table and made as a man concluding, and said, "How glorious it was, and a time of goodness for all people. And behold, I am tired."

33 And the great supervisor rose to leave and saw the light of the fire in the kitchen, and he shouted and cried, "Oh, Lord of goodness! What is it that occurs thence?" 34 And Simor said, "The radiance of the firmament it is." 35 And Shalmer cried in a loud voice and called: 36 "The radiance of the firmament it is? In this season of the year, and also at this time of the day, and also in this province of the land, and also it is dwelling from head to end within thy kitchen?" 37 And he said, "Thus and so." 38 And he requested, saying: "May I see it it?" And he answered and said, "No."

39 And Simor led Shalmer out of his house, and his mother cried and called: "Simor, aflame is the house!" 40 And Simor answered her and said, "Not so is this matter, O my mother, for the great luminaries are they." 41 And Shalmer said to Simor, saying: "Lo, Simor, a differentiated man art thou, yet for all this I shall say that behold, you have known to steam a portion of Cham."

42 And this scroll, the Scroll of Cham-Steam, was written and sealed by the hand of Isaac Harel son of Jael and Abraham Meir the priest, in the thirty-second year of the family of the sons of Simp. 43 May the LORD be unto us a help, a help!