An elegant cruise ship requires many serving hands, and they are more likely to come from the Philippines than from any other country. Conditions at home can require extraordinary sacrifices from a jobseeker; even the experience of working for months and not getting paid is not enough to deter people from the work. PNS associate editor David Bacon writes widely on immigrant and labor issues.

The luxurious cruise ship, painted bright red, steamed into New York harbor and docked at Staten Island. The passengers disembarked, leaving behind the crew--100 Filipino seamen.

Then Premier Cruise Lines, the ship's operator, declared bankruptcy, and the court ordered the floating casino held to guarantee repayment of the company's debts. For a month, the crew was held as well--stuck aboard with no money and no means to return home.

Millions of Filipinos work abroad, including a quarter of a million sailors.

Employment agencies on the Manila waterfront are besieged by workers. The lucky ones--like the crew of the Big Red Boat--get contracts guaranteeing an eight-hour day and pledging the company will pay. But the Big Red Boat crew put in twice as many hours, and despite yeoman efforts could not save their jobs--or even their paychecks.

After a month of waiting, the crew was released and sent home. While they were waiting, Jose Panizales predicted that like his workmates, he would soon go to sea again. Here's his story.

"I'm 27, and I come from Iloilo City, on Panay, in the Philippines. My family still lives there.

"I was a bar waiter here on the Big Red Boat. I started in 1997. "I actually got my first job in 1994. I went to Manila and found work in a craft factory. The salary was very low.

"Before I got this job, I worked nine months for Five Summer Corp., trying to convince them to give us a chance. I was a messenger, I worked in the office and cleaned it every day. Sometimes they sent me to look for people--I just did whatever they asked

"The agency never paid--they would give us money for bus fare and sometimes free food, but no wages. In the Philippines, if you don't make some sacrifices you won't get a job. Most Filipino seafarers have had to do this at one time or another.

"Finally I got the job on the ship in 1997. My family was very happy. Until then my eight brothers and sisters couldn't go to school. I'm the oldest, that's why I'm supporting them. They're all in school. Without the money I send that wouldn't be possible.

"My parents are old now and can't work. My father was a farmer, and we still have a rice farm outside the city. I call it the silent area-- it's the place I like the most. I really look forward to going home, to seeing my family and my friends and my girlfriend.

"But that's also why I'll have to look for a job in another company as soon as I get back.

"I started in the kitchen, as an assistant cook, at $650 a month. Then I was promoted into the bar department, where I could make--sometimes $1,500 or $1,600 a month, if you include the tips, when there are lots of passengers. When there aren't so many, you earn a lot less.

"I serve people, smile with them, even sing with them. I enjoy it--you go to a lot of places, and you meet a lot of people. But once you get old, you can't do this job anymore--you're nothing again.

"I studied marine engineering for two years, and graduated from school in Iloilo. Working in the engine room pays better than work in the bar, and it's a lifetime job. But even working in the bar pays three or four times what I made in the factory in Manila.

"I worked two years for Premier Cruise Lines. Then we heard rumors from the officers that the company might go bankrupt. We sailed into Halifax, in Canada, and three other Premier ships were there.

"Then all of the passengers were transferred to our ship, and the boat came here to deliver them back to the States.

"Since then, the ship just sits on this dock in Staten Island. We were very worried about how we'd get paid, how we'd get home, what would happen to us. Our chief purser finally arranged things for us.

"Even after all this, a lot of people will apply to work here again if they get the chance. What happened to us could happen again. I've heard of this problem before. Sometimes Filipino sailors get stranded like we did--I think it's common.

"Still, this is a pretty good job, and I'll look for another one like it. I don't think I'll need to work for free again, though. I'll look for another agency, and I already have some experience.

"After I get married, I'll still have to work on the ships. I'll be away from my family for long periods, even eight or ten months at a time. It's a sacrifice--a simple word, but a hard thing to endure.

"After I get married and have some land, maybe I'll be able to stop doing this, I'd like to start a business, so I have to make enough money first on the ships to do that.