European Community Shipowners’ Association (ECSA) and European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) are requesting the European Commission to amend the Agreement Directive on seafarers’ right to decent conditions of work.
Adopted in 2009, the directive reflected the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), an international agreement setting minimum requirements for nearly every aspect of working and living conditions for seafarers. ECSA and ETF now expect the commission to revise Directive 2009/13/EC in accordance with the MLC as amended in 2014.
“The ILO adopted a set of amendments to the international rules in 2014 introducing provisions to further ensure the welfare of seafarers and their families if seafarers are abandoned by the shipowner. To be coherent, we want to make sure that they are now also included in the EU law, our Social Partners’ Agreement”, Tim Springett from the UK Chamber of Shipping and ECSA’s spokesperson for Social Dialogue, said.
The MLC 2006 sets minimum requirements to improve seafarers’ working and living conditions including recruitment and placement practices, conditions of employment, hours of work and rest, repatriation, annual leave, payment of wages, accommodation, recreational facilities, food and catering, health protection, occupational safety and health, medical care, onshore welfare services and social protection.
“The new amendments make financial security compulsory for shipowners to cover the costs of maintaining and repatriating abandoned seafarers. It also expands the existing provisions on shipowners liability for sickness injury or death in service to ensure that contractual compensation is paid in full and without delay to the seafarer or their representative. This offers very important protection for seafarers”, Mark Dickinson, Nautilus International Secretary General and ETF Spokesperson in the European Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for Maritime Transport, said.
The future EU Directive does not detract from the obligations of ILO member states stemming from ratification and acceptance of the amended MLC and its subsequent. Therefore, ECSA and ETF urge the member states of the EU to implement the 2014 amendments to the MLC as soon as possible, and, in any case, by no later than their entry into force on January 18, 2017.
The associations said they believe the European Institutions will now facilitate the legislative procedure in a timely fashion. This will allow for a common implementation of all its provisions at community level and increase compliance of its requirements, according to ECSA and ETF.
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