Before the voyage seafarers need to carefully read the terms of the contract

Labor inspectors of the Far Eastern territorial organization of the  Seafarers Union of Russia (FETO SUR) visited the ship Aurora (IMO 8504258, flag of the Russian Federation), which is not covered by the collective agreement. The seafarers’ contracts of employment are not in line with the regulations. According to the chairman of the FETO SUR Nikolay Sukhanov, it follows that in the event of the death of a crewmember on board, the issue of payment of compensation may become the subject of a legal dispute. 13 Russians work on board of m/v Aurora. According to the head of the FETO SUR, the special attention of labor inspectors was drawn to the contracts of seafarers, since they did not indicate the amount of compensation in the event of the death of an employee. «The seafarers are insured in Ingosstrakh so we contacted the company and asked what amount is paid in case of death on board the ship. It turned out that this amount must be specified in the individual contract and collective agreement. In this case, compensation is not indicated anywhere, and there is no collective agreement at all. As we believe, the relatives of the crewmember in the event of an incident will not receive anything». - said N. Sukhanov. Nikolay Sukhanov added that the meaning of obtaining an insurance certificate in the company Ingosstrakh «is not entirely clear. Most likely, upon the policy a certain amount will be paid to the shipowner in connection with the death of a seafarer. This practice, unfortunately, exists so that the company can insure the costs of medical treatment an employee or, for example, the repatriation of a body, but it does not provide for compensation in case of injury to health or death of a crewmember. If the vessel was covered by the collective agreement, many issues would by dealt more easier, including insurance, since the amount of payments is negotiated between the employer and the trade union, and then entered into the seafarer's employment contract. » The same can be said about the salary. So, on the Aurora the basic rate of the AB is 12,800 rubles, and according to the recommendation of the International Labor Organization, it should be at least $641 (about 45 thousand rubles). The food on board is also no good as it is organized for $5 per day per person, which, according to the chairman of the FETO SUR Nikolay Sukhanov, is clearly not enough. He noted that a minimum of $7 per day per person should be allocated for normal food on board. «When meeting with the crewmembers, we emphasized that before the voyage, they need to carefully read the terms of the contract and to pay attention to the specific amount of insurance specified in the contract. Members of the SUR working on board the Aurora asked the union to send a letter to the management of the Vladivostok company Pacific Ship Management CoLtd with a proposal to sign a collective agreement. In addition, we advised the seafarers to consider joining a trade union. They should understand that existing problems will be successfully solved only when we together claim their rights to safe and well-paid work, » - added N. Sukhanov.