Due to the lack of an ITF collective agreement seafarers receive unacceptable low wage

Inspectors of the Far Eastern Territorial Organization of the Seafarers' Union of Russia visited the vessel Unisky (flag of Antigua and Barbuda, IMO 9353747) in the port of Vostochny. The vessel is not covered by the ITF collective agreement.

As the chairman of the FETO SUR Nikolay Sukhanov noted, during the inspection, the captain presented a document signed between Marlow Navigation LTD and the Black Sea Seaman's Trade Union, which is not a member organization of the ITF. According to this agreement, the crew, consisting of Russians, Ukrainians, Indians and Filipinos, receive miserable wage. «For example, the base rate of an AB is $641, which meets the minimum requirement of the International Labor Organization, but the salary comes out in the amount of only $841, which, in our opinion, is unacceptably small. The captain gets $8550»,- explains Nikolay Sukhanov Representatives of the FETO SUR informed the captain that the agreement on board the Unisky was not approved by the ITF. «In fact, the crewmembers have no guarantees that this document will protect them in the event of a labor conflict or other problems. And most importantly, it violates the accepted agreement of the maritime trade unions, which are members of the ITF, to provide seafarers with minimum guarantees of decent working conditions on ships under a convenient flag. According to it, the salary of an AB should be at least $ 1,750».

Nikolay Sukhanov is convinced that the profession of a seafarer is difficult and dangerous, and at the same time socially significant, which means that it should be paid according to its merits, that is, at least two more of what sailors are satisfied with on Unisky.

The beneficiary owner of the vessel is the German company HS Bereederungs GMBH&CO KG. The same company pays the crew members wages and bears financial responsibility according to insurance certificates, the mandatory availability of which is required by the Maritime Labor Convention. The Far Eastern territorial organization of the Seafarers' Union of Russia will send a notice of warning to the ship operator HS Service GMBH&CO KG demanding to conclude a collective agreement with the German seafarers' union, which is part of the ITF, in order to provide acceptable standards on board the vessel.