The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and also its associated seafarers’ unions will certainly currently aid thousands of countless seafarers to exercise their right to quit working, leave ships, and also return residence.
The brand-new technique, which can be very turbulent to international profession, follows not enough activity by federal governments to mark seafarers as ‘key workers’, excluded them from Covid -19 traveling limitations and also promote the repatriation of around 200,000 seafarers that have actually been captured up in the team modification dilemma, claimed ITF Seafarers’ Section Chair Dave Heindel.
“We are sending a very strong message to seafarers: you have selflessly extended and extended your contracts to do your part to keep critical supplies flowing around the world during this pandemic,”
Image Credits: itfglobal.org
“Some seafarers have been onboard for more than a year, and over the course of this pandemic, many have been prevented by governments from coming ashore even for a walk and alarmingly refused emergency medical care. Frankly, we have seafarers killing themselves at the prospect of this misery continuing without end. They call them ‘floating prisons’. This situation is intolerable to the ITF family,” claimed Heindel
ITF President and also Dockers’ Section chair Paddy Crumlin restated the duplicated cautions provided to federal governments from unions and also sector of this unraveling altruistic dilemma: “We have urged them on the consequences of tired, fatigued, depressed crew – to trade, to the environment. We have worked with industry and the international community to offer solutions.”
“But enough is enough. We have to draw a line in the sand and today is the day that we make it crystal clear to governments, that from June 16, seafarers are going to start enforcing their right to stop working and to return home. No more contract extensions.” claimed Crumlin.
ITF General Secretary Steve Cotton claimed all that federal governments require to do is make sensible exemptions to coronavirus limitations, and also enable these essential employees to transportation with their regions and also go back to their family members. A couple of little adjustments by nationwide federal governments would certainly enable seafarers to obtain residence, and also be eased by a fresh team, he claimed.
“If a seafarers wants off a ship, then the ITF, our affiliated unions and the ITF inspectorate will do everything we can to assist them. We fully expect port state authorities in all countries where ships dock to honour their obligations under the Maritime Labour Convention to get these seafarers safely home. That is their legal obligation,”
“If getting seafarers off these ships causes chaos in supply chains, if ports back up from Singapore to San Francisco, and if this causes ship insurance providers to pull their coverage and global trade to grind to a halt; then that is on the heads of politicians, not the world’s seafarers,”
“Seafarers have done our part in this pandemic, and plenty more. Enough is enough,” claimed Steve Cotton.
Reference: itfglobal.org
