***ITF – Korean Police Attack KCTU Headquarters
Urgent: Korean police attack KCTU headquarters
Dear friends,
Many affiliates have shown their solidarity to the KRWU strike including through protests at local Korean embassies on December 10. The ITF and the KRWU are very grateful for this support.
But the situation in Korea is deteriorating rapidly. This weekend, Korean police attacked the headquarters of the national trade union centre KCTU with tear gas, and more than 100 protestors were detained yesterday as the police sought to arrest top union officials.
We need your continued support to stop the government’s growing repression – not only against the striking rail workers, but against the whole democratic labour movement.
Take action and support the right to strike:
1. Protest at your local Korean consulate or embassy by 4 January to voice your opposition to the KCTU police raid, the arrest warrants for KRWU leaders, and other acts of repression.
Check out what happened on our 10 December action day here. Get further info on the Korean railway workers’ right to strike Facebook page >>
Send us your reports and pictures at inland.transport@itf.org.uk or upload them to our Facebook page
2. Supporters of the strike in Korea have been using this graphic to tell the Korean government why they are ‘not fine’ about the railway workers’ treatment. The Korean words at the top of the graphic read ‘I am not fine’ – and in Korea, activists are filling out the form with things like ‘Stop – arresting union members’, ‘Stop – rail privatisation’.
Join them – print this graphic and tell the Korean government what you want them to stop doing.
Send the Korean government and our brothers and sisters in Korea photos of your members with their signs or upload them to our Facebook page.
Yours, in solidarity,
Stephen Cotton
Acting General Secretary
Check out the Korean railway workers’ right to strike Facebook page >>
You can get updates and campaign material at the ITF campaign page >>
Posted: December 19, 2013 in Uncategorized
ILWU members joined with workers in 10 ports around the globe Dec. 17 as part of the Dockers Day of Solidarity – a show of global supply-chain support to more than 300 workers locked out for seven months without pay at Ikea’s Richmond store.
Under the leadership of the International Transport Workers Federation, inside and outside workers alike hoisted banners and passed the hat. ILWU members also visited workers on the picket line at the Swedish giant’s big-box store.
The 350 members of Teamsters Local 213 are fighting company demands for a discriminatory wage system, cuts to their benefits – and that scabs who crossed their picket line be allowed to return to work when a deal is finally struck.
Well received by locked-out workers, the day brought as much satisfaction to local dockers who rallied at Richmond IKEA, Delta Port, Fraser Surrey and the Local 502 hall.
“Today was one of the greatest days of my career as an officer of Local 502,” said Rocky Thompson, business agent for Local 502. “The solidarity demonstrated by my local has definitely renewed my belief that there is strength in numbers.
“Special thanks to the rank-and-file members and casuals for all the monies donated. You raised $12,000 for those workers. You should all be proud of yourselves, and be proud to be part of such a great organization. I know you all make me proud.”
Peter Lahay, ITF inspector in the port of Vancouver, added: “With the global corporate assault on workers, it’s never been more important than today for transport workers’ unions to band together. This effort between ILWU Canada and the Teamsters showed that what have in common.”
Rallies were also held in Sweden, the Netherlands, Australia, Japan, Norway, Finland, Belgium and Denmark.
FROM THE TEAMSTERS:
Teamsters Continue to Stand in Solidarity with Korean Railway Workers
January 6, 2014
General Strikes Planned for January 9 and 16
Teamsters are standing in solidarity with Korean workers as they prepare for general strikes on January 9 and 16.
South Korean railway workers returned to work on December 31, ending a 23-day strike. Although an agreement was reached to end the longest-running railway strike in Korean history, Korean labor unions are remaining vigilant against continued attacks on union members and leaders.
The Korean Railway Workers’ Union (KRWU) reached an agreement with ruling and opposition national assembly members to participate in an advisory capacity on a newly created “Subcommittee on the Development of the Rail Industry” under the Korean National Assembly Committee on Land, Infrastructure and Transport. This subcommittee will have a multi-stakeholder advisory board in which the KRWU will participate.
The KRWU, and its parent federation, the Korean Federation of Public Services and Transportation Workers’ Unions (KPTU), thanked unions worldwide for their solidarity, and recognized the mass support from Korean citizens for the strikers. They also called on the international labor movement to remain vigilant in response to continued repression of union leaders and members, and they are preparing for the next phase of the struggle.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) held a simultaneous protest around Korea on January 4, and is calling for a second and third general strike on January 9 and 16. They are asking members of the international labor movement to organize protests at Korean embassies in timing with these dates to demand the withdrawal of lawsuits against unions for damages, criminal charges, dismissals and disciplinary measures, as well as an end to labor repression in Korea and an end to the unilateral pursuit of privatization.
For more information and to join in on an action, visit the group’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Support-railway-workers-right-to-strike-in-Korea/623128284413850
FROM ASLEF:
***Demonstrate for Korean Railway workers’ rights
The 23 day railway workers’ strike in South Korea escalated before Christmas when police used excessive force, and searched and seized union records. The rail company dismissed 490 workers and almost the entire union leadership is facing arrest due to civil and criminal claims for damages issued by the company.
Korea’s national trade union centre, the KCTU, called a general strike to protest against the increasingly authoritarian actions of the Korean government. The General Strike saw more than a hundred thousand demonstrating in South Korean capital Seoul and there are plans for a second and third general strike on the 9 and 16 January.
Korean unions are asking us to show solidarity by protesting outside embassies this week: The International Transport Federation (ITF) have therefore taken the lead in arranging a protest outside the South Korean embassy in London this Thursday from 10am to 12 noon. The embassy is at 60 Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6AJ.
There is a Facebook page for the protest and a Twitter hashtag: #KORAIL
FROM MARITIME GATEWAY:
***Maritime Segment: Making It Accessible To Women
Cristina Dragomir
Distributed by Contify.com
2081 words
17 December 2013
Maritime Gateway
ATMARG
English
Copyright © 2013 Gateway Media Pvt. Ltd.
Women who intend follow a sea career represent an efficient solution to the expected shortage of seafarers. But, the participation of women in maritime business is considerably low, despite international organisations’ initiatives to promote equal chances of access to maritime education for women. It is time for all stakeholders to come together, make conscious efforts and implement policies to motivate women to join the sector.
For centuries, women’s access to maritime business and maritime education looked like an intrusion into a sector which is labeled as “men exclusive”. Today, however, this perception is slowly changing.
In many countries, tradition and stereotypes significantly influence women in the selection of careers and their involvement in the labour market.. And, maritime labour market is no exception.
International institutions like United Nations Organization, International Maritime Organization, International Labour Organization, International Transport Workers Federation, European Commission and others have made significant efforts to bring about equality of opportunities in maritime education and business for men and women. However, despite the sincere efforts of international organisations to increase the participation of women in maritime industry, many developed countries still restrain women’s access to the conservative domain of maritime business.
According to statistics from 2010 of BIMCO/ISF, existing seafarer shortages are likely to intensify over the next decade and women employment as seafarers can resolve such problems.
In 2013, in the Busan Declaration, noting the increasing concern over the predicted shortage in shipboard officers, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) agreed with the need to encourage the entry of women into the merchant marine profession. IMO also acknowledged the importance of a sustained strategy and called for the combined efforts of all maritime stakeholders including training institutes, maritime administrations, shipping companies, crewing agencies, industry and seafarers themselves, to facilitate the growth of equitable seafaring career opportunities for both women and men. The Busan Declaration was recalling the Resolution 14 adopted during the 2010 Manila Diplomatic Conference (STCW) on the “Promotion of the participation of women in the maritime industry”, which invited governments to “highlight the role of women in the seafaring profession and to promote their greater participation in maritime training and at all levels in the maritime industry”.
The participants to the IMO Regional Conference on the Development of a Global Strategy for Women Seafarers from 2013, after deliberating on the contribution of women seafarers to the maritime industry and the attendant challenges, which confront them, agreed to advocate, in their respective countries, the promotion for the adoption of policies and regulations which support access for women to maritime education and the merchant marine professions.
Statistics of the International Transport Workers‘ Federation show that women make up only an estimated 2 per cent of the world’s maritime workforce. According to ILO, in the cruise line sector, women represent 17-18 per cent of the workforce. Ninety-four per cent of women are employed on passenger ships and 6 per cent are employed on cargo vessels (i.e. container ships, oil tankers etc.). In general, women are working as hotel staff on passenger ships. Principal objections against employing women on board ship and in maritime business appear to centre on lack of adequate separate facilities for women on board and stringent physical requirements. Also, there may be some discrepancies regarding cultural issues.
In the digitalised and automated world of today, where physical labour is mostly taken over by machines, an engineer woman on board ship can work as better as a man or even better. Statistically, an analysis regarding Educational Attainment, based on the report “Your Better Life Index” released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in may 2011 shows that 74 per cent of adults aged 25-64 within the OECD countries have earned the equivalent of a high-school degree, women tending to outperform men.
Also, we can take into account the case of Constanta Maritime University from Romania. In this university, since 1995 when women started to enroll as students, the graduating class leaders were females in many cases – both in navigation, mechanical engineering or electrical engineering field.
From another point of view, having women as part of the ships’ crew can reduce the sense of isolation felt by many seafarers. Women seafarers’ presence onboard creates a more normal social environment. This is particularly important because the nature of seafaring life has changed in recent years and there is less time to go ashore and there are less people on board
Women’s Experiences
Larger problems faced by women are social prejudice and the obligation to do housework, traditionally assumed to be a woman’s role.
According to International Labour Organization, women are reported to be receiving maritime training across the world, except for parts of southern Asia. In some cases, maritime education and training institutions have little control over the gender composition of the enrolment as their governments prohibit the recruitment of women to nautical courses. For example, a large country in Asia has more than 30 maritime education and training institutions but none of them recruit female students because of the central government regulation. Further, some shipowners and managers do not employ women.
In other cases, owners pay less even though women are doing equivalent work to that of male colleagues. Women may also be denied the facilities or equipment available to male workers.
Women working in a predominantly male, and often hostile, environment have to confront discrimination, sexual harassment, bullying and violence in their workplace on board ship. According to the International Transport Workers‘ Federation, often, women seafarers work mainly in the cruise and ferries sector for flags of convenience vessels and these are among the worst paid and least protected of jobs at sea.
In the opinion of Magramo and Eler, seafarer women must be physically, emotionally and spiritually tough in order to overcome all kinds of obstacles and challenges that may come in this male-dominated profession.
J Horck considers that apparently there is more to be done in order to have women compete on a level-playing field in the sphere of shipping and suggests that universities should introduce clear policies on the gender perspective and diversity management in general.
Study on perception of women
For identifying the perception of women regarding their motivation to choose or quit a sea career, the following study was carried in May 2012, in Constanta Maritime University.
The study was based on the analysis of 21 questionnaires designed to target female students and graduates from the following two specialisations: navigation and economic engineering in transports. . Respondents constituted 11.66 per cent of total women students (180) of navigation and economic engineering. The study sought, through the designated target groups, to meet the requirement of representativeness in the statistical sense of the term of the total number of female students enrolled in a university with marine profile from Romania. The decision to choose the targeted group for carrying out investigations was based on a series of statistical rules to obtain results with a reasonable margin of error and an acceptable risk.
The multiple choice questionnaires included questions regarding location, age and maritime studies of the interviewed persons, family tradition in the maritime profession, parents view on the seafarer profession, reasons for choosing maritime profession, problems likely to meet for a woman in the seafaring career, perception of the difficulty in finding such a job and the motivation to quit the seafarer profession. A questioned person could choose more than one answers at a question.
Most of the respondents (95.23 per cent) were aged between 20 and 25 years. Nearly half of the respondents (52.38 per cent) had relatives working in the maritime field. Among them, 9.52 per cent of total respondents had their father working in maritime field – more than those who had their mother working in maritime field (4.76 per cent).
Majority of respondents (66.66 per cent) said that their parents had encouraged them to go for a seafarer job or a job in the maritime field. However, a significant proportion of parents disapproved their children opting for the work at sea (14.28 per cent), which proves that they were self-motivated to enrol in a maritime university without being guided by family.
The research will be continued with other qualitative techniques such as focus groups, in-depth interviews or open questionnaires.
Results
Majority of the respondents (52.38 per cent) said they chose maritime career because it offers attractive remuneration. Indeed, the offshore wage was more attractive compared to the onshore remuneration in Romania. For example, in May 2013 the Romanian on-shore wage was only 172.83 euro against the minimum basic wage of 441.11 euro established by the International Labour Organization on January 01, 2013 for offshore jobs. Moreover, wages for seafaring positions and managerial functions grew exponentially.
Better prospects for career advancement in marine profession also attracted many women (38.09 per cent of respondents) to the field. Family encouragement or the intention to continue the tradition represent less important factors of influence and are placed last.
Most women (57.14 per cent) believed they are discriminated against men and are not regarded as good workers from an equal perspective. Sexual harassment (47.61 per cent) was the second issue most likely to happen, followed by difficulties in operating mechanical equipment (23.8 per cent), feeling of isolation (14.28 per cent), accident risks (14.28 per cent), fatigue (9.52 per cent) and increased workload (4.76 per cent). Most of the respondents (90.47 per cent) believed it is difficult to work as a female seafarer.
Nearly half of the respondents (47.61 per cent) said they may quit this job due to family reasons, when they get married or they get pregnant.
On the probable reason for quitting seafaring, 42.85 per cent said they will quit when they find better job on shore, 19.04 per cent said they will work till the retirement, 19.04 per cent said they are planning to start their own business on shore and the remaining said they will quit when they get bored.
In conclusion, the results of the study show that the majority of the respondents believed that the main motivation for choosing jobs in shipping are, placed in the order of influence, the income, in the first place, followed by the prospect of career advancement and attraction to the sea or to marine profession. Family encouragement or the intentions to continue the tradition are less important factors of influence for choosing a maritime career. The most likely to happen problems in a seafarer woman career is the discrimination against women and sexual harassment, followed by difficulties in operating mechanical equipment, accident risks, isolation, fatigue and increased workload. Most of the respondents believe it’s difficult to work as a female navigator and most of them may quit due to family reasons.
Motivating women
Seafarer women represent a strategic human resource in seafaring that can resolve the problem of world seafarers’ shortage. Also, the on-shore maritime industry can also benefit from human resources represented by women willing to seek a career in the maritime industry. Most of the women employees felt they are discriminated against men and are not regarded as good workers from an equal perspective. Other problems likely to appear in a woman’s career as seafarer are: sexual harassment, difficulties in operating mechanical equipment, feeling of isolation, accident risks, fatigue and increased workload. In order to motivate joining women to the maritime sector, a number of steps need to be taken, including active promotion of seafaring as a potential career for young women (as well as men) , dissemination of the positive experiences of companies employing women seafarers in order to diminish the perception of seafaring as a male job or the gender stereotypes of other maritime companies, implementation of policies addressing sexual harassment should be undertaken by all crewing and shipping companies.
Wherever possible, more female crewmembers (and particularly female cadets) should be recruited on vessels and interested institutions should continue to develop policies relating to pregnancy and maternity benefits for seafaring women. Problems like hostility from male crew and reluctance to accept women seafarers for employment, incidences of sexual harassment ranging from verbal sexualised comments to physical assault need to be effectively addressed by companies in order to ensure the continued retention of existing women seafarers.
FROM PHILIPPINES NEWS AGENCY:
***ITF activates website for Women Transport Workers’ Conference
261 words
21 December 2013
PNA (Philippines News Agency)
PHILNA
English
(c) 2013 Philippines News Agency
MANILA, Dec. 21 — The International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) has launched a vibrant and dynamic new website which will enable transport workers to connect and contribute to the ITF Women Transport Workers’ Conference taking place in India on Jan. 27 and 28, 2014.
The body supervises the working conditions of the estimated 1.2 million seafarers worldwide. Of these, around 400,000 are Filipinos.
The conference takes place once every four years in the run-up to ITF Congress and will be an opportunity for women transport workers to contribute to ITF women’s policy and the action program for 2015-2018.
Whether sister affiliates are physically present at the conference in India or not, they will be able to have their say on conference activities through online discussions.
Those present at the conference are also urged to engage with the site, add their comments and photos, and to share the website link with colleagues in their union to share knowledge and experiences.
ITF Women Transport Workers’ coordinator Alison McGarry has encouraged women workers worldwide to engage with the website, saying, ‘We know that, as women and as transport workers, we are strongest when we share our experiences and learn from each other.”
The website gives all affiliates an equal opportunity to participate in shaping the future of ITF Women Transport Workers.
Published by HT Syndication with permission from Philippines News Agency.
FROM INTERNATIONAL LAW OFFICE.COM:
***Court reaffirms deviations from forum non conveniens principles
January 07 2014
On November 5 2013 the Limassol District Court had the opportunity to examine aspects of the forum non conveniens doctrine in the context of an application to set aside service of the writ of summons issued in Gorsoan Limited v Bullock.(1) The case is one of a series of actions between Gazprombank and Janna Bullock in various jurisdictions, in which the bank is seeking to recover $21 million in damages it claims to have suffered due to purported fraud by Bullock and her associates.
Certain defendants/applicants argued that the Cyprus court had no jurisdiction to try the action and that the most appropriate forum was Russia.
With reference to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) decision in Owusu v Jackson,(2) the district court judge reaffirmed that when Cyprus courts have jurisdiction on the basis of EU Regulation 44/2001, or the Brussels Convention that preceded it, the court cannot refuse its jurisdiction on the grounds that another country would constitute a more appropriate forum.
The court noted that the principles established in Owusu continue to apply notwithstanding the replacement of the Brussels Convention by the regulation. Furthermore, these principles are applicable even when the allegedly more appropriate forum is a country that is not an EU member state.
The court concluded that in light of Article 2 of the regulation, the Limassol District Court has jurisdiction because some of the defendants are residents of Cyprus. It went on to note that leading commentators(3) have supported the view that the principles established in Owusu apply beyond Article 2:
“Admittedly the wording of special jurisdiction under articles 5, 6 and 7 and Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Regulation is less obviously mandatory that the wording of Article 2. Nonetheless, there is no hint in the wording of Article 5, 6, and 7 and Sections 3, 4, and 5 that the principles laid down in there provisions can be derogated from. Owusu has been applied by Gloster J where jurisdiction was based in Article 6(1). In her view it would equally apply whenever there is jurisdiction under the Regulation.“
The district court judge also made reference to Viking Line Abp v The International Transport Workers Federation,(4) where the ECJ applied the principles established in Owusu. In relation to the first defendant, who was a US resident, the court stated that:
“even if it would be decided that EC Regulation 44/2001 and the principles in Owusu are not applicable because she is a US resident, it would be incorrect for the court to stay the proceedings only against the said defendant for reasons associated with forum conveniens given that the procedure against the rest of the defendants will continue in Cyprus since Cypriot courts have jurisdiction. It would indeed cause an illogical result if the court decided that it is not the appropriate forum to try the case only against the first defendant. This would cause parallel proceedings with potentially conflicting decision and multiple judicial and legal expenses (see AG of Zambia v Meer Care & Desai (2005) EWHC 2102).“