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In a major breakthrough in its efforts to provide a "Seafarers' Bill of
Rights", the International Labour Organization (ILO) announced on Friday (24
September) that agreement has been reached by member countries to
consolidate a wide range of maritime standards affecting more than 1.2
million seafarers.
At an ILO meeting in Geneva attended by 551 delegates representing
governments, shipowners and seafarers agreed, after two weeks of discussion,
on a new draft convention for adoption by the world labour body by the
beginning of 2006.
The new convention has been defined as "an ambitious instrument"
unprecedented in the ILO in its scope and approach, since it aims to
consolidate key principles and rights and standards found in over 60
existing conventions and regulations developed during the last 80 years.
The consolidated maritime labour convention will become a single instrument
covering a variety of different subjects and will place emphasis on
compliance and enforcement measures in order to ensure a level playing field
for all countries and shipowners that are concerned with providing decent
conditions of work for seafarers.
The proposed consolidate maritime labour convention was recently discussed
by shipowners in the Asean when they met at the 31st Federation of Asean
Shipowners Association executive committee meeting in Manila last month.
It is understood that Asean shipowners had expressed some reservation on the
proposed convention affecting ships operating in domestic waters.
By nature of its geography, Asean has probably one of the largest number of
vessels in the domestic trade and if the ships are required to comply with
the proposed maritime labour convention it could have far-reaching
implication to shipowners and the industry.
FASA, which is expected to be represented at the meeting in Geneva, also
noted the responsibility relating to the issue of social security coverage
of seafarers has been defined under the new proposed convention, that
included the flag state administration, employer and labour-supply country.
The meeting in Geneva will the draft, recommended by the High-Level
Tripartite Working Group on Maritime Labour Standards, of a consolidated
maritime labour Convention and propose a text, with a view to the adoption
of the Convention by the 94th Session (Maritime) of the International Labour
Conference scheduled for autumn 2005. |
