Joint efforts of maritime unions forced a japanese shipowner to sign ITF collective agreement
Minamoto Kisen Corp. Ltd.signedtheITFcollective agreementwith the
Japanese Seamen's Union afterthe
receiving a notice fromthe Far Eastern
Regional OrganizationofSeafarers' Union ofRussia (SUR FERO).
The SUR FERO inspected Minamoto Kisen-owned Basic
Portland,berthed at Nakhodka commercial
sea port, on November 7. The union'srepresentatives havelearnedthat the ship wasn'tcovered by theITF collective agreement. The Japanese shipowner employed the cheap crew, including 20 Filipinos. AB base
rate was $626 here.
Theseafarersknewnothingaboutworkingunder flag ofconvenience (FoC). The inspectors told themthat owners, employingforeign crewswithout the ITF collective agreement,cut the wage costs and as a resultobtained significantprofit. In
cooperation with thecrew it was
decidedto reachthe shipownerandto demand holdingnegotiation with theunion.
A noticewas
addressed onthesameday. After receiving an information on theship inspection in Nakhodka, Fusao Ohori,
theITF coordinatorin Japan,contactedwith theowner and told him that theship wouldbeinspectedby theITF inspectorin Vancouver
(Washington, US) andwouldbe detained.
Afraidof theship's idleand subsequentlosses, Minamoto Kisen Corp. Ltd. signed thecollective agreement with the Japanese Seamen'sUnionbefore the ship arrivinginto theport.
Thanksto thecoordinatedandjointactionstheunions have been able to make impacton theowner and to improveworkingconditionsof seafarers on FoC ship.