By Jite Eriabie
An emerging pattern of labour rights violations has allegedly been found at Philippine-based terminal operator International Container Terminal Services (ICTSI), according to an analysis conducted by International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF).
The ITF claims that the report shows that labour issues at ICTSI terminals are not limited to current disputes at ICTSI terminal in Madagascar and Indonesia, but “can be found throughout ICTSI’s global network”.
“ICTSI has grown ambitiously over the last decade, yet as this report shows, their growth has not been accompanied by sufficient managerial oversight and appropriate global governance to ensure productive industrial relations, compliance with local laws, and international labour conventions,” Paddy Crumlin, the ITF’s President, said.
The ITF added that it will now focus on ports in which ICTSI seeks to expand, including the multi-purpose terminal in Kribi, Cameroon, a new port in Guinea-Bissau, the Motuka Port in Port Moresby and the Port of Lae in Papua New Guinea.
ICTSI, which operates 29 container terminals globally, is currently short-listed for the Port of Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, and is looking to join the consortium that will operate and manage the multi-purpose terminal in Kribi, Cameroon.
In September 2017, ICTSI signed an agreement to operate the Lae and Motuka ports in Papua New Guinea.
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