Trade union and prosecutor's office discussed operations of crewing agencies in the Far East Region

Today, the Chairman of the Far Eastern Territorial Organization of the Seafarers’ Union of Russia Nikolay Sukhanov, the Chief Technical Labor Inspector Valentin Zherebtsov and the assistant to the transport prosecutor of Nakhodka Transport Prosecutor's Office Alexander Kichigin have held a working meeting. The meeting was held as part of the agreement on cooperation and collaboration on protection of legitimate rights and interests of seafarers, concluded between FETO SUR and the Far East Transport Prosecutor's Office. 

According to Nikolay Sukhanov, the meeting focused on operations of crewing companies in the Far East Region. The parties agreed that it is necessary to constantly share information on cases of violations by recruitment agencies of licensing requirements, as well as the terms of employment agreements, collective agreements while employing seafarers on board vessels under Russian and foreign flags. Within the topic of the meeting, the parties reviewed court records regarding the wage recovery claim filed by the captain of MV "President" Sychev against the crewing company LAM. 

The court hearing took place in 2014 and was notable for the fact that for the first time in Nakhodka, a Russian legal entity engaged in the employment of Russian seafarers on vessels of foreign shipowners was obliged to pay a wage debt to a seafarer. 

The captain signed an employment contract with the Japanese company Marina Trading through the Russian agency LAM. Upon the termination of the contract, he was not paid wages in the amount of $10,000. The crewing company advised the seafarer to contact the foreign shipowner on this issue. However, the trade union did not agree to this proposal: they filed a claim, but the Nakhodka City Court dismissed the case. Then the Union appealed to the judicial division for civil cases of the Primorsky Kray Court. Nevertheless, guided by the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, the judicial division recovered the wage debt from the LAM crewing agency. 

It is worth noting that the FETO SUR lawyer, Vasily Savelyev, contributed a lot in this case on the protection of Captain V. Sychev's interests. Vasily Savelyev passed away in April of this year. For 17 years, he defended the rights and interests of crew members who got in a difficult situation. During the working meeting, representatives of the Union and the Prosecutor's Office paid a minute's tribute of silence to his memory.