Slice of cake at Maersk that leaves a sour taste

THE likelihood is that Marie Antoinette never really did say ‘qu’ils mangent de la brioche’, loosely translated as ‘let ’em eat cake’. It takes a 21st century shipping executive to be as insensitive as that.

The story is that Louis XVI’s missus proffered this dismissive rejoinder on being told that the peasantry was starving for want of bread. It has been repeated so many times that it is generally accepted as fact by those whose knowledge of the French revolution does not encompass the tennis court oath, the Civil Constitution of the Clergy or the flight to Varennes.

But historians now believe the tale is a lie, purposely put about by dastardly revolutionaries who, for their own selfish reasons, wished to discredit the monarchy by painting it as out of touch with the concerns of the hungry toilers.

By contrast, it really is true that Maersk Line chief operating officer Morten Engelstoft put out a memo to seastaff telling them that office employees had celebrated the company’s recent $4.2bn third-quarter profit by feasting on Danish cream cake, and calling on them to do likewise.

Given the thousands of recent job losses, not to mention budgets that have been pared to the extent where paper napkins have been declared an unwarrented luxury and seafarers mandated to make do with squares of kitchen towel instead, the missive predictably went down rather badly.

One master had the guts to put his head above the parapet and sent HQ a curt response, in an act of courage comparable to that of the guy who started the chanting against Ceausescu, at what turned out to be the last rally the Romanian dictator ever got to address.

This proved something of an ‘I am Spartacus’ moment for officers throughout the fleet, who spontaneously emailed messages of support. Many seemed somewhat insulted to be told that their efforts, which materially contributed to a massive boost to the bottom line, were deemed worthy of nothing more an injunction to tuck into some cholesterol-laden sugary baked dessert.

History never repeats itself, so we are unlikely to see numerous Maersk bosses carted to the guillotine by tumbril as haggard tricoteuses look on gleefully. But it is pleasing to see seafarers — many of whom have responded to orders to jump simply by asking ‘how high?’ — discover some sense of self-assertion.

Abbé Sieyès wrote one of those pamphlets whose impact has resonated gloriously throughout all subsequent history, penning the document titled ‘What is the Third Estate?’ Maybe he should have asked ‘who are the third mates?’ instead. Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité! A bas de lagkage!