Tag: ETF

Dockers unions, shop stewards and legal advisors met in Rotterdam, forming a team of legal advisors ensuring that the Dockers’ Clause that entered into force in Europe and Canada on January 1, 2020 will be correctly implemented.

The International Transport Forum 2019 Summit on 'Transport Connectivity for Regional Integration' took place from 22 to 24 May 2019 in Leipzig, Germany. As the forum said, maritime transport has undergone major changes over the last decade, with overcapacity, environmental issues and employment, presenting new challenges.

The European Transport Workers Federation discussed the issue of Maximizing Regional Value through Maritime Connectivity Investment. ETF's Political Secretary for Maritime Transport, Philippe Alfonso, called for reforms in State Aid Guidelines in order to improve their effectiveness in promoting EU/EEA seafarers and quality national registers. 

ECSA and ETF welcomed the adoption by Members of the European Parliament of the proposal for a Regulation establishing a European Maritime Single Window environment. They stated that they look forward to the formal adoption by the Council in order for the Regulation to apply and deliver on the much-awaited administrative simplification for shipping.

The European Parliament voted on April 4 regarding the revision of Directive 2008/106/EC on the minimum level of training for seafarers. The revision gives emphasis on the level of transparency that should prevail in processing demands for the recognition of seafarers’ certificates of new third countries. Such a recognition will now stop to be automatic, as the decision to launch this process will have to be taken by the Commission by means of an implementing decision and on grounds of several criteria.

The ETF which represents fishers will collaborate with the European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions on a joint project. EFFAT represents workers in the aquaculture and fish processing sectors. The key goal of this project is to establish a joint vision of how to boost and defend workers’ occupational interests all along the fishery supply chain.

On 13-15 February, European dockers and seafarers met in Hamburg to discuss EU port and maritime policies. The matter discussed, was among others, the revision of the EU’s Consortium Block Exemption Regulation (CBER), which governs fair competition in the shipping sector.

Despite months of negotiations, many EU member states insist that seafarers and fishers should be excluded from the guarantees in the new Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions Directive, ETF noted ahead the release of the revised Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions Directive.

Taking into consideration the need for a more holistic approach towards gender diversity, shipping is constantly showing an increased interest in augmenting the role and presence of women in a traditionally male-dominated industry. According to WISTA, Norway was ranked first in gender equality in maritime, where women account for 42% on company boards.

The project "Towards A Sustainable Crewing System" is coming to its end. The TASCS project is EU-funded and developed by the European social partners of the inland waterways sector: European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), the European Skippers’ Organisation (ESO) and the European Barge Union (EBU).