The ITF Seafarers’ Trust has made a USD $55,000 emergency grant to enable local unions to help the families of those who have died or are in a serious condition, following a release of noxious chlorine gas at the port of Aqaba, Jordan this week.
13 people were reported killed and hundreds injured after a tank containing the toxic gas ruptured at the port Monday. The 25-tonne tank was being loaded by a dockside crane on to the cargo vessel FOREST 6 (IMO:9947354), as a cable snapped sending it...
Maritime transport is the only sector with a formally recognised global minimum wage, which has existed for seafarers since 1958. The UN International Labour Organization (ILO) once again convened the latest bipartite round of negotiations between shipowners and seafarers’ unions from across the world, coordinated by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), respectively.
The agreement applies universally to the rating grade of Able...
Shipping experts have welcomed a ‘unity ticket’ on Australian jobs and fuel security ahead of the country’s election Saturday. But the ITF and its affiliates warn that rogue lobbyists, Shipping Australia, risk undermining the policy advances on cabotage and have called on its supporters in the industry to abandon it.
“We welcome the policy shift from the conservative side of Australian politics towards accepting the need for a national fleet and a robust cabotage policy as critical to...
Seafarers’ groups have won the right to mandatory social connectivity for crews –including internet access – in updates to the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC), but are disappointed that shipowners and governments may seek to charge for it. The MLC is an international treaty designed to protect seafarers’ rights and has been ratified by more than 100 countries, who represent over 90% of the world fleet. One of its provisions is that governments, shipowners and seafarer representatives meet...
Today we mark International Workers’ Memorial Day (IWMD). A day when we mourn for those who have been killed at work – taken from their friends, families and workmates too soon.
We remember this year, especially, seafarers who have died from Covid-19 and its effects. And we think of those seafarers affected by the conflict that is ongoing in Ukraine as a consequence of Russia’s invasion.
We remember Hadisur Rahman.
On the ninth day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Wednesday 2 March 2022, the war...
Union leaders from across the globe have descended on the London offices of the Dubai-based owner of P&O Ferries, DP World. More than 50 leaders from transport unions assembled to condemn the company’s treatment of the P&O Ferries’ workers and to urge DP World to start living up to its own values.
“News of the illegal mass sacking of P&O Ferries’ seafarers has spread to TVs and phone screens the world over. The disgraceful and callous actions of P&O leadership, signed off by DP World, falls foul...
Officials at the Port of Dover yesterday refused access to ITF Inspectors who were present in order to investigate welfare issues that had been raised by replacement crew members on board P&O Ferries’ vessels in the port. ITF Inspectors have ISPS (International Ship and Port Facility Security) code clearance, which enables them to enter all UK ports and board all vessels in UK waters where seafarers request assistance.
Despite emailing ahead of time as a courtesy and completing the online...
More than 100 people seeking refuge from the conflict in Ukraine have been supported to reach safety as part of a joint humanitarian initiative set up by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), the ITF Seafarers’ Trust, the Marine Transport Workers’ Trade Union of Ukraine (MTWTU) and global ship manager V.Group.
The initiative is focused on helping seafarers and their families, many of whom live around port regions like Odesa and Mariupol. The founding partners provide the...
International maritime employers and unions are urging governments to significantly increase efforts to ensure safe and secure passage for vessels following reports of mines drifting in the Black Sea. The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and the Joint Negotiating Group (JNG) – the social partners of the International Bargaining Forum (IBF) – met on Thursday, 31 March 2022, to evaluate and discuss solutions that will ensure that seafarers, and their vessels, aren’t collateral...
Over 10,000 transport workers from almost 200 ITF affiliated unions expressed their outrage at the mass sacking and outsourcing of 800 P&O seafarers through a ‘Global Letter of Protest’ handed over to the global leadership of DP World, the owners of P&O Ferries.
ITF General Secretary Stephen Cotton, who is leading the global unions’ delegation in Dubai, delivered the letter addressed to the CEO of DP World, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem calling for the reinstatement of the sacked seafarers and a...