Not All Greenbacks Are Created Equal
Equal pay for equal work? Perhaps in some American cities that is the case. Unless of course you are a U.S. illegal immigrant working for pennies on the dollar.
But, what if you work on cruise ship, and are paid in American dollars? Are all crew members of the same job description and same seniority paid the same?
In Antananarivo, Madagascar Jean Yves, is a cabin attendant on an Italian cruise ship. He gets in line at the purser's office to collect his pay.
He is paid in U.S. Dollars, a total of seven $100 bills for the month. If he's lucky, the bills will indeed be worth $700 when he arrives in port and tries to spend them.
If he isn't, they'll be worth closer to $600. The difference? The good bills are new ones that bear Treasury Secretary John W. Snow's signature. The bad ones are signed by Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin.
It seems there are limited number of Snows, and when they run out, everybody else gets a Rubin. First in line are the lucky ones. Those at the back of the line get an instant pay cut, because in many of the countries the ship visits, old U.S. bills just aren't worth as much as new ones.
While a buck is a buck in the U.S. many nations decide on the value of a buck based on the denomiation, date of issue and/or condition of the note, not just the current exchange rate.
The posters for newly released bills note that "both new and old designs of U.S. currency will circulate together and will maintain their full face value." This is because the U.S. never devalues or withdrawls from the market their paper currency.
Jean Yves, says that in many ports, the 1996 series $100 bills are discounted by as much as 15 percent, if they're accepted at all and only if they are perfect. He and his fellow crewmen complain to their bosses, he says, but to no avail. "They say to me, 'This is your pay -- take it or don't,'"
The cruise line is aware of the problem, and selects the order of employee pay by the country they are from. This month those from Singapore may get paid first, but paid last next month. This enable employees to get a rotating crack at those new bills.
Deliberately paying cruise ship employees with money that is known to be valued much less than face value, is nothing short of fraud. Yet the practice is common, and goes unpunished.
According to U.S. law, any bill that is more than 50 percent intact is legal tender. But in Singapore, currency dealers often pay less for imperfect bills.
Ziyaudeen, manager of Bismi Money Changer, accepts $100 bills of any age. But if the serial number is missing on either the right or the left, he'll only pay $50 for it. Then he sells the note for $80 or $90 to a dealer who redeems it for $100 on a trip to the U.S.
It has become a well-known fact in many countries that the bills must be new, and in perfect condition in order to be widely accepted at face value, or accepted at all. So, why are some cruise lines passing off older bills in imperfect condition? Perhaps they are getting their currency at a discount, thereby decreasing their expenses for employee wages.
As a traveler, not having perfect bills of new issue can leave the traveler in a bind, when their currency is not accepted, or devalued due to issue date or condiction. Some travelers have been left short, and needed money wired to them, just to get back home.
Cruise Lines Shorting Crew Pay
Not All Greenbacks Are Created Equal
November 2, 2006
