A more fairly regulated shipping industry will ensure a more skilled and certain jobs future for European seafarers, Nautilus says.
Speaking in his capacity as European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) spokesperson, Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson said:
‘Adequate regulation is needed for the shipping industry, to stamp out the downwards spiral in seafarers’ working lives, provide support for the maritime cluster and ensure the resilience of European shipping.
‘Shipping is a microcosm of the damage done by unchecked and unfair competition,’ argued Mr Dickinson. ‘OECD countries now supply 23% of the world’s officers and 14% of the world’s ratings – compared with 28% of officers and 24% of ratings a decade ago. Are we just meant to accept those trends and decide that seafaring is no longer a first world profession? I don’t think so.’
A failure to agree on a manning directive has meant a steady flow of social dumping in the ferry trades and now also in offshore services, Mr Dickinson told the Seafarers Matter seminar hosted by the ETF.
“Globalisation of domestic shipping services simply doesn’t work. Regulating the competitive climate for such routes will not only ensure that we combat exploitation in our waters, but also encourage operators to compete on quality, not cost, as well as improving the job security of European seafarers and protecting the maritime skills base and thus the EU maritime cluster. It will allow us to set EU standards and thus set a level playing field for all those who wish to trade in our waters.”
‘Instead of attacking the US Jones Act, we should emulate it and understand the strategic economic and defence drivers that have ensured the Act’s survival for almost 100 years. Canada, New Zealand and Australia, have in the past few weeks alone, taken significant steps to limit the numbers of foreign seafarers employed on ships in their coastal waters.’
Mr Dickinson concluded that the Maritime Labour Convention was an important set of minimum standards but was ‘conceived as a journey, not a destination and we need an industry strategy to continuously improve those minimum standards and drive a race to the top not a race to the bottom.’
Source & Image credits: Nautilus
