Advance invitation to press: LISW event 12 September

Please find this joint advance notice invitation from IMEC and the ITF attached and below.

Yours,

Sam Dawson

 

29 August 2017. Advance notice invitation to press

LISW2017 event: Sustainable Partnerships in Shipping

The ITF (International Transport Workers' Federation) and IMEC (International Maritime Employers' Council) invite members of the press and other interested parties to a special presentation on 12 September as part of London International Shipping Week 2017.

 

The event, Sustainable Partnerships in Shipping, will cover the challenges, breakthroughs and lessons learnt by both organisations during 14 years of working together. It will be held on Tuesday September 12th from 12:00 to 14:30 at ITF House, 49-60 Borough Road, London SE1 1DR. It will include a Q&A session, and refreshments will be served.

 

Find out more and join us on September 12th using the Click here link at www.itf-imec.org

 

ENDS

For more details please contact

ITF. Sam Dawson. Email: dawson_sam@itf.org.uk

IMEC. Adam Lewis. Email: adam.lewis@imec.org.uk

 

About IMEC and the ITF

IMEC is the only international employers' organisation dedicated to maritime industrial relations. Established over fifty years ago, it operates from offices in London, UK, and Manila in the Philippines and represents over 220 shipping companies located all over the world. You can find out more at www.imec.org.uk

The ITF is a global federation representing over 16.5 million workers worldwide in 654 transport workers' unions in 148 countries worldwide. You can find out more at www.itfglobal.org

 

 

This email is confidential and may be privileged. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender and then delete it immediately. You should not copy it or use it for any purpose nor disclose its contents to any other person. Any views or opinions expressed within the email are solely those of the sender and do not necessarily represent those of the ITF or the Seafarers' Trust.

Press release: International fashion brand leaders call on Madagscar to respect intl labour standards and reinstate workers

Please find this release attached and below.

 

If you have related inquiries please contact: ITF Asia Pacific Campaign Centre, Sydney, Australia.

Tel: +61402399572.  Email: mediasydney@itf.org.uk

 

Yours,

Sam Dawson ITF

 

3 August 2017

International fashion brand leaders call on Madagascar to respect international labour standards and reinstate workers

The Government of Madagascar is coming under increasing international pressure to resolve a major industrial dispute at the ICTSI Port of Toamasina. Today, local union leader Lucien Razafindraibe will deliver a joint letter from international fashion brands to the Madagascan Labour Minister in the Madagascan capital, Antananarivo.

Paddy Crumlin, president of the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) and chair of its dockers' section today welcomed news that Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) member brands Marks and Spencer, Skins Ltd, Next Plc and Men's Warehouse UK have joined the campaign to help end the exploitation of Madagascan dockworkers.

"These major international brands join Levi's and Esprit in demonstrating leadership and recognising that the transport workers, who move their clothing from the factory to stores around the world, deserve to be treated fairly.

"ITF challenged global brands sourcing from Madagascar to step up and support the rights of dockworkers at the Port of Toamasina, and the response has been positive. We've seen concrete steps to support these workers, with brands writing directly to the Government of Madagascar calling on them to enforce international labour standards, reinstate 43 unfairly dismissed dockworkers and allow SYGMMA to represent workers at the port.

Category Leader of Apparel and Textiles at ETI, Martin Buttle, said "Not only were we concerned for the dock workers themselves, we were also concerned that action against legitimate union activity would deter investor confidence in Madagascar as a future sourcing market.

"In the letter to the government, we confirmed that our members wanted to continue sourcing from Madagascar but equally had to consider obligations to comply with international standards. With the full support of our members, we therefore asked that the government of Madagascar take steps to enforce its labour laws, ensure that the 43 dock workers were reinstated and allow the union to organise at the port."

Mr Crumlin added that, "The success of the public campaigning and private engagement shows quite clearly that for transport companies, like ICTSI, labour rights abuses may be part of their business model, but for fashion brands labour rights violations in their supply chains represent such a significant risk to the value of their brand that they are prepared to use their market influence to advocate for these workers."

The garment industry is the largest employer of workers in the formal economy in Madagascar, employing 30 per cent of the formal workforce. As a result, this intervention from leading brands cannot be ignored by the Government of Madagascar.

"ITF is looking to the Government of Madagascar to show leadership, and step in to defend these workers' basic human rights against ICTSI's aggressive campaign to drive down their wages and conditions. These workers have waited long enough." Mr Crumlin said.

ENDS

 

For more details, please contact:

Luke Menzies, ITF Asia Pacific Campaign Centre, Sydney

+61 433 889 844 | menzies_luke@itf.org.uk

 

 

This email is confidential and may be privileged. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender and then delete it immediately. You should not copy it or use it for any purpose nor disclose its contents to any other person. Any views or opinions expressed within the email are solely those of the sender and do not necessarily represent those of the ITF or the Seafarers' Trust.

Press release: ITF mobilises international support for Indonesian dockers

Please find this release attached and below.

 

If you have related inquiries please contact: ITF Asia Pacific Campaign Centre, Sydney, Australia.

Tel: +61402399572.  Email: mediasydney@itf.org.uk

 

Yours,

Sam Dawson ITF

 

 

2 August 2017

ITF mobilises international support for Indonesian dockers

The ITF (International Transport Workers' Federation) is mobilising international support for dock workers in Indonesia, who are striking and protesting tomorrow.

 

ITF member union Serikat Pekerja Jakarta International Container Terminal (SPJICT) will be striking from 3 until 10 August over ruthless attacks to workers' rights – in particular to pension rights and performance bonuses – which terminal management has been pursuing in the course of negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement.

 

The union has been organising at the largest container terminal at the Port of Tanjung Priok, Jakarta since 1999, and has worked since then to ensure that the port's workers are treated with respect and dignity.

 

Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT) has been run as a joint enterprise between Indonesian state-owned enterprise PELINDO II and global port operator Hutchison since 1999. JICT has just been granted an extension on its operating contract until 2039.  However, in June, Indonesia's Audit Board (BPK) announced that the JICT extension was contrary to local laws and is actually depriving the local state of potential revenue.

 

The extension deal is now being probed by the Indonesian anti-corruption commission, Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (KPK). According to the union, management is using the port extension as a smoke-screen to extract more profit from the enterprise by crushing workers' rights.

 

SPJICT chair, Nova Hakim, has issued a call for solidarity, saying: "We urge our comrades in the ITF to support our strike in defence of our national asset, and in protecting the rights of our members. This port extension is robbing the Indonesian people, and we cannot stand idly by."

 

ITF president and dockers' section chair Paddy Crumlin commented: "ITF dockers' unions everywhere will be backing our Indonesian colleagues with lawful solidarity action and messages of support. They say that a fish rots from the head down and this wave of industrial action, coupled with other action at Tanjung Priok proves that something is seriously wrong with labour relations in at the port – something that the employers and government must remedy immediately."

 

At the same time to the JICT action, dockworkers at ICTSI's terminal at Tanjung Priok will escalate their own fight for justice to coincide with the start of the SJICT strike, and take action to resist harsh management practices. The workers' union, the Federasi Serikat Buruh Transportasi dan Pelabuhan Indonesia (FBTPI) has announced it will hold a mass demonstration at the port on Thursday to demand that management end illegal outsourcing, pay unpaid overtime and settle a fair collective agreement with the union.

 

Follow the strikes and the solidarity from ITF unions on Twitter at #justice4jakarta

ENDS

 

For more details please contact

ITF Asia Pacific Campaign Centre, Sydney, Australia.

Tel: +61402399572 | Email: mediasydney@itf.org.uk

 

 

 

 

This email is confidential and may be privileged. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender and then delete it immediately. You should not copy it or use it for any purpose nor disclose its contents to any other person. Any views or opinions expressed within the email are solely those of the sender and do not necessarily represent those of the ITF or the Seafarers' Trust.