
The ITF has praised today’s decision at the ILO (International Labour Organization) in Geneva today to build on the success of the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 by including in it new mechanisms to tackle crew abandonment.
Over 300 maritime representatives addressed a joint proposal by seafarers’ unions and shipowners to address the issue of abandonment, and to ensure that flag states have in place a financial security system to provide abandoned seafarers with outstanding wages, repatriation and other reasonable costs until they arrive home.
There were 8,890 votes in favour of the proposal, none against, and 143 abstensions.
A further set of amendments was also voted on, regarding shipowners’ liability to ensure financial security is provided, certified and inspected, in order to deal with contractual claims in an expeditious way.
The amendments have been adopted and will now be submitted to the next session of the conference for approval.
Dave Heindel, chair of the ITF seafarers’ section, is the spokesperson for the organisation at the Geneva session. He commented: “The MLC has entered a new generation today. We have always known that abandonment would be the priority for this stage two of the MLC, but to see that problem so widely recognised and marked for action has been inspiring.”
Speaking from the meeting, ITF president Paddy Crumlin said: “Today’s vote represents a genuine turning point for the convention. It proves that seafarers, shipowners and governments are committed to continuously reviewing the implementation of the MLC in order to ensure that it is a truly global and living instrument for the protection and benefit of all seafarers. Abandonment is a particularly dark stain on the industry and the new amendments are real and concrete relief for seafarers facing that dire predicament.”
FROM THE SIU:
***ILO Moves to Protect Mariners (4/11)
The International Transport Workers’ Federation, to which the SIU is affiliated, has issued the following news release, dated April 11. David Heindel, quoted in the release and identified by his ITF title, also is secretary-treasurer of the SIU.
Agreement takes MLC into new stage
The ITF has praised today’s decision at the ILO (International Labor Organization) in Geneva to build on the success of the Maritime Labor Convention 2006 by including in it new mechanisms to tackle crew abandonment.
Over 300 maritime representatives addressed a joint proposal by seafarers’ unions and shipowners to address the issue of abandonment, and to ensure that flag states have in place a financial security system to provide abandoned seafarers with outstanding wages, repatriation and other reasonable costs until they arrive home.
There were 8,890 votes in favor of the proposal, none against, and 143 abstentions.
A further set of amendments was also voted on, regarding shipowners’ liability to ensure financial security is provided, certified and inspected, in order to deal with contractual claims in an expeditious way.
The amendments have been adopted and will now be submitted to the next session of the conference for approval.
David Heindel, chair of the ITF Seafarers’ Section, is the spokesperson for the organization at the Geneva session. He commented: “The MLC has entered a new generation today. We have always known that abandonment would be the priority for this stage two of the MLC, but to see that problem so widely recognized and marked for action has been inspiring.”
Speaking from the meeting, ITF President Paddy Crumlin said: “Today’s vote represents a genuine turning point for the convention. It proves that seafarers, shipowners and governments are committed to continuously reviewing the implementation of the MLC in order to ensure that it is a truly global and living instrument for the protection and benefit of all seafarers. Abandonment is a particularly dark stain on the industry and the new amendments are real and concrete relief for seafarers facing that dire predicament.”
FROM MARINE LINK:
***MLC Amendments Address Abandonments, Claims
Posted by Eric Haun
Friday, April 11, 2014
Governments, maritime employer representatives coordinated by the International Shipping Federation (ISF) and their counterparts from the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) met this week at the International Labor Organization in Geneva for the first meeting of the Special Tripartite Committee (STC) established under the Maritime Labor Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006). During the meeting, an agreement was reached for amendments to the Convention to ensure the provision of financial security systems to assist seafarers in the event of their abandonment and for compensation for seafarers’ contractual claims for death and personal injury.
ISF spokesperson Arthur Bowring, who led the Shipowner Group in the discussions, stated, “We believe that the first meeting of the MLC Special Tripartite Committee has been a watershed in the history of the Maritime Labor Convention. The MLC, 2006 is intended to bring social justice and fair competition to the Shipping Industry and the lack of a specific reference to abandonment in the mandatory instruments of ILO and IMO was an omission that needed comprehensive action. The first Special Tripartite Committee considered amendments developed over ten years by the Joint ILO and IMO working group and we believe that the outcome of our work this week is a significant achievement.”
He went on to explain, “Shipowners have a responsibility for seafarers under their contractual employment arrangements, and the problems created when the seafarers are abandoned needed specific legislative measures. The new amendments not only provide that safeguard but also recognize the role to be played by flag states and labor supply states.”
In fact only a very tiny proportion of the world’s seafarers experience the despair of abandonment but that does not make the occurrence any less serious for the affected seafarers and their families.
ISF members were particularly concerned to see the new ILO video explaining the case of the B Ladybug, where the crew has been without financial or welfare support from the shipowner for well over twelve months. This is the sort of deplorable situation that the new amendments to the MLC, 2006 will help to speedily address.
The STC meeting also clarified Standard A4.2 to ensure that contractual claims for death and personal injury are now appropriately covered.