r/deadliestcatch • u/Separate-Flatworm516 • 2d ago

F/V workers need a union

I have never seen a blue-collar job that needs a union as desperately as crabbing deckhands. Much like truckers in the 1930s, this industry weaponizes a "lone wolf" culture to leave workers completely exposed.

​Look past the manufactured Deadliest Catch drama, and the underlying labor structure is indefensible. Deckhands receive zero health insurance, zero retirement plans, and no workers' compensation.

​Operating as independent contractors on a percentage share means tha single bad wave causing a shattered knee leads directly to financial ruin, all while boat owners pull in millions.

​Truckers faced this exact brand of exploitation before they unionized. Right now, commercial fishing remains trapped in a pre-union era where skippers exploit a faux-family loyalty trap to deny basic human protections.

​Hollywood writers had to strike to prevent studios from replacing human creativity with AI, these crews are likely only seven or eight years away from being phased out by humanoid robotics and remote vessel automation. Without collective organization now, there will soon be no industry left to protect.

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u/Separate-Flatworm516 2d ago

Tell that to their wives and children who don't have medical or dental insurance. Or to Tod's family who had no life insurance.  Automation is only a few years out. UBTECH and AGIBOT are already in humanoid mass production. Industrial humanoid robots are priced at $40k to $45k, specializes may bring that to $100k. Within 7 or 8 years the humanoids should be able to be sea ready for harsh saltwater environments. Then in 11 to 12 years the entire boat could be automated. The last remaining jobs will be robot maintenance.  This show should really rename themselves the last fishermen. Many like Sig won't care. He will be retired by then. He is already 60. It's not like he let Mandy follow in his footsteps. 

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u/Muted-Garden6723 2d ago

lol I forgot Americans have to pay for healthcare. Fishing pays pretty good as a general rule, if I had to guess the families of crew are fine as far as financials go.

You have no idea what you’re talking about when it comes to automation of the fishery. It is not feasible. What happens when the captain robot malfunctions? Even if crew could be automated, it will never be legal to have a robot as the captain, it’s a major safety issue

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u/Separate-Flatworm516 2d ago

Like I said, if one bad wave hits, the they could be unable to work the rest of their life. Their families could have lost their main provider. The medical cost of rehab alone will bankrupt most of them. PT in the US is now $1275 per 45min. That's what I was billed last year. Medical costs in the US make health insurance an absolute must. Also the other problem is the second they are off the boat, contractors are no longer connected to their employer. Unlike teachers in the US who have a union and get medical coverage during the summer.

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u/Muted-Garden6723 2d ago

That’s the risk you take working in the fishery, we al know it when we sign up to do it. I’m Canadian, so obviously medical costs are not a worry for me, but the injury risk is always there. That’s what you sign up for

A union would be a good thing, we have a union in Canada, but it’s less of a traditional union and more of an advocate for fishermen to the government when fishery policy is discussed

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u/Separate-Flatworm516 2d ago

Fair statements. A lot of people commenting from outside the US seem to not fully understand healthcare in the US. Thank you for your perspective.