The ITF has a potent influence on the wages and conditions of seafarers working on ships flying flags of public toilet ( FOCs ) .
What are flags of convenience?
A flag of convenience embark is one that flies the flag of a state other than the area of ownership. For workers onboard, this can mean :
Reading: Flags of convenience
- very low wages
- poor on-board conditions
- inadequate food and clean drinking water
- long periods of work without proper rest, leading to stress and fatigue
By ‘ flagging out ’, ship owners can take advantage of :
- minimal regulation
- cheap registration fees
- low or no taxes
- freedom to employ cheap labour from the global labour market
The ITF believes there should be a ‘ genuine link ‘ between the real number owner of a vessel and the flag the vessel flies, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea ( UNCLOS ). FOC registries make it more unmanageable for unions, industry stakeholders and the public to hold ship owners to account .
In many cases, the registries themselves are not even run from the area of the sag .
globalization has helped to fuel this rush to the bottom. In a competitive ship market, FOCs lower fees and minimise rule, as embark owners look for the cheapest way to run their vessels .
Problems for seafarers
Contractual claims
A serious injury can ruin a life sentence, end a oceangoing career and rob a family of a regular income. On their own, seafarers have little opportunity of winning recompense. The ITF and its affiliated unions help seafarers pursue these cases through the courts, but frequently they must unravel complex company structures before they can work out who has province for the embark and its crew .
Getting paid
Every day, the ITF hears about crews who are owed bombastic sums of money. Some crews plainly are n’t paid. Those that are find that companies delay, or fail to make, payments to their families when they want to send money home. In many cases, months go by without any sign of the money promised to seafarers. With no pay, they can not tied afford to escape and make their own way home. One of the most important aspects of the ITF inspectors ‘ employment is gaining backpay for seafarers. From 2011-2013, USD103 million has been recovered by the ITF for crowd who had not been paid – an modal of USD34.3 million a year. many FOC vessels are now covered by ITF agreements, giving direct security to more than 250,000 seafarers .
Voicing their needs
Despite the hardships, many FOC seafarers are excessively frightened to protest. unscrupulous manning agents circulate the names of seafarers who complain to inspectors. It is even common practice for a transport ‘s captain to write ‘ ITF troublemaker ’ in a mariner ‘s discharge book. With such a score on their criminal record, a mariner may never be employed again. Some seafarers have tied been jailed on returning home. And with even more brassy sources of british labour party opening up – notably China – conditions and pay risk becoming worse .
The role of the ITF
The ITF negotiates agreements with external organisations, including nautical employers and manning agencies, to secure minimal standards and conditions for larger groups of seafarers .
Our Mexico City policy, adopted at the ITF congress in 2010, commits our consort unions to provide all seafarers with proper marriage representation and security. They work in concert to provide corporate agreement coverage for all seafarers, regardless of their nationality or country of origin.
- Politically:
We seek an international governmental agreement that there be a genuine link between the iris a ship flies and the nationality or residence of its owners, managers and seafarers. This would eliminate the flag of public toilet system wholly
- Industrially:
We try to ensure that seafarers who serve on FOC ships, whatever their nationality, are protected from exploitation by embark owners
The industrial crusade has succeeded in enforcing adequate wages and conditions on board about 11,500 FOC ships. The ITF has become the color bearer for exploited and mistreated seafarers, regardless of nationality or trade wind union membership. Every class, millions of dollars are recovered by the ITF and its affiliated unions in backpay and in compensation for end or injury on behalf of seafarers who have nowhere else to turn .
The ITF-approved collective agreements
ITF-approved collective agreements set the wages and working conditions for all crew on FOC vessels, regardless of nationality. All vessels covered by an ITF-approved agreement get a security, which signifies the agree wages and working conditions on board .
There are different types of agreements reflecting the complexity of diligence cruise and offshore agreements and the differences between regions .
Inspections
More than 150 ITF inspectors and contacts in ports throughout the universe ensure complaisance with our agreements. ITF inspectors are union officials who are either full moon time or part time, working directly with the ITF .
They monitor the payment of wages and other sociable and employment conditions. If necessary, they take action to enforce ITF policy .
Working with dockers
The fair practices committee ( FPC ) is made up of both seafarers and dockers ’ unions. Between the FPC meetings every second year, the elected FPC Steering Group reviews the daily tend and potency of the flags of public toilet crusade .
Seafarers ’ and dockers ’ unions work together to support safe and quality workplaces for all port workers. In many countries, port workers face the consequences of denationalization : casual and parlous cultivate, inadequate discipline and violations of their freedom of association. To address those issues, the ITF port of convenience crusade was initiated.
Read more: Maritime search and rescue – Documentary
FOC countries
The comply countries have been declared FOCs by the ITF ‘s fair practices committee ( a joint committee of ITF seafarers ‘ and dockers ‘ unions ), which runs the ITF campaign against FOCs :
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Contact us
Are you a seafarer having problems?
Contact an ITF Inspector
If you are on circuit board or in interface and have an pressing problem, you should contact the nearest ITF Inspector or email the ITF Seafarer Support team at mindovermetal.999@gmail.com
