The ITF and Nautilus International are about to call for an increase in the global minimum wage for seafarers. According to the Joint Maritime Commission, currently the global minimum wage for seafarers is $614 per month.
ITF and Nautilus International will call the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for a significant rise in the global minimum wage for seafarers.
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Namely, in June, Nautilus International general secretary Mark Dickinson will lead the seafarers’ delegation on behalf of the ITF during discussion within the Joint Maritime Commission; an ILO standing body that brigns together ship owners and seafarer representatives since 1920.
Mr. Dickinson believes that the rise in minimum wages is the least reward a seafarer can have, as they work over 90 hours a week, and are away from home for up to eight months at a time.
When you consider what seafarers endure at work and the efficiencies that the merchant navy has achieved in recent years, as well as the importance of cargo carrying to the global community, it is clear that the time has come for a significant rise.
After an ILO Joint Maritime Commission (JMC) meeting held in Geneva in 2016, the group came to an agreement for the ILO minimum monthly basic wage figures to be at US$614 as of 1 January 2016, until at least 2018.
The International Chamber of Shipping had welcomed this development by saying that:
The continuation of the current minimum wage until at least 2018, at the increased level which came into effect in January 2016 as a result of the previous JMC agreement, means that employers should benefit from a period of stability in what are otherwise very challenging markets for the global industry.
You can see the decision by the ILO Joint Maritime Commission (JMC), in the PDF herebelow
