ITF media release: CSL Australia found to be exploiting crew

CSL Australia found to be exploiting crew

 

The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) has inspected the Bahamas-registered Flag-of-Convenience (FOC) vessel Diana in Melbourne and found the company is underpaying Filipino seafarers who are effectively operating full time on the Australian coast.

 

Under coastal trading rules introduced in 2012, foreign crew must be paid award rates as the vessel is working more than two domestic voyages in Australian waters, but today's inspection shows that seafarers are only receiving low FOC wages.

       

The Diana is owned by an Australian company, Canadian Shipping Lines (CSL) Australia.

 

CSL has recently increased the use of foreign seafarers in coastal trades replacing Australian crew, effectively undermining employment conditions and jobs on Australia's coastal shipping routes.

 

ITF Australia Coordinator Dean Summers said: "Under Australian legislation all foreign workers must be paid award rates while operating in the local trade.

 

"ITF Australia, acting on a tip off, has today exposed abuse of Filipino seafarers working in Australia for CSL. The ITF has contacted the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) to investigate further but we are yet to receive a response.

 

"These are vulnerable foreign workers used by an Australian company to replace Australian national seafarers working exclusively in the Australian trade."

 

CSL Australia has so far refused to sign an industrial agreement guaranteeing international minimum standards on its fleet of deregulated FOC vessels, Acacia, Adelie and Diana.

 

"The ITF demands the government investigates these clear breaches of our trading laws immediately and prosecute the perpetrators," Mr Summers said.

 

ENDS

 

For more information

Dean Summers +61 0419 934 648

 

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.

FUTURE RESONANCE | the PhotoPhore exhibitions

 

ENLIGHTEN YOUR WAY SELECTED NEWS Artem Tarkhanov, beweistheorie I, 2016. Still image. Courtesy of the artist  Graphic design by The PhotoPhore   FUTURE RESONANCE ZUECCA PROJECTS AND THE PHOTOPHORE SHOW Friday 15 December sees the opening of the exhibition FUTURE RESONANCE, at Spazio Ridotto in Venice, a collaboration between the Venetian organization Zuecca Projects and the contemporary art platform the PhotoPhore. This multi-channel exhibition is focused on the exploration of possible upcoming futures, the development of new technologies, the relationship between the augmented reality and our life, the consequences of climatic changes and hybridization between technologies and nature. "Art transgresses the boundaries within which the time would like to confine it, and so forecasts the content of the future". Vasilij Kandinskij What will the reality of the future be like?  The artistic research opens the doors of experimentation and suggestion. Artists: Sandrine Deumier | France | affordable dream Adriene Hughes | USA | The Resonance of Loss Daria Jelonek | Germany | Technological Nature Artem Tarkhanov | Russia | beweistheorie I Discover on thephotophore.com   Adriene Hughes, The Resonance of Loss, 2016. Still image. Courtesy of the artist Graphic design by The PhotoPhore   FUTURE RESONANCE Dec 15, 2017 - Jan 14, 2018 Spazio Ridotto Calle del Ridotto, 1388 San Marco Venice, Italy Opening: Dec 15, 2015 | 06 PM SEE YOU THERE AND ENJOY THE SHOW!   The PhotoPhore is a web based platform about contemporary art, photography and architecture. It curates high quality contents, dedicating its attention to projects characterized by great visual impact and distinctive concepts. From renowned artists and architects to emerging talents, the PhotoPhore offers a daily dose of inspiring information about artists and exhibitions, architecture projects, galleries and competitions. THEPHOTOPHORE.COM | UNSUBSCRIBE | CONTACT US 01 | Decemner 2017 © the PhotoPhore 2017

 

 

 

Salva

Salva

Salva

Salva

ITF media release: Global turmoil spreads to ICTSI’s flagship terminal in Australia

ITF_VICT2.jpg
ITF_VICT4.jpg
ICTSI_VICT_report.pdf
ITF_VICT1.jpg
ITF_VICT3.jpg
 

Global turmoil spreads to ICTSI's flagship terminal in Australia

A report released today by the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) shows that the industrial turmoil plaguing the operations of embattled global port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) has spread to its flagship terminal in Melbourne, Australia.
 
Paddy Crumlin, president of the ITF said: "ICTSI has imported its anti-worker business model, which has led to protracted disputes and protests around the world, to the Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT) terminal at Webb Dock.
 
"ICTSI's insistence on bringing its anti-worker business model to Australia is being met with the resistance you would expect from workers' unions, politicians and the local community with an industrial dispute on the cusp of entering its third week with no end in sight.
 
"No matter where you look across ICTSI's global network there is industrial trouble because the company insists on running an anti-worker, union busting agenda and no-one wants that at the expense of decent pay, conditions and job security.
 
"We've seen ongoing dramas in Madagascar, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea and the cancer has now spread to Australia. Everyone is awake to ICTSI's destructive ways and won't cop it anymore."
 
The VICT dispute escalated in late November 2017 when a casual dockworker's employment was terminated after management claimed that he was ineligible for a national security clearance.
 
"VICT publicly alleged that it was 'illegal' for them to employ this worker and that his application for a MSIC card was rejected twice. VICT's claims are categorically false and this worker was granted a MSIC card on the 8th of December," Mr Crumlin said.
 
"ICTSI is deliberately running smokescreens and we need to focus on the facts. Management deceptively created the cause of this dispute. This dockworker was targeted for being a union delegate, and sacked after trying to raise legitimate concerns with management regarding the bullying and intimidation of workers."
 
The ITF report, ICTSI: global turmoil spreads to flagship VICT terminal, released today details a culture of sloppy management, intimidation of workers and of productivity overriding safety concerns.
 
"It is the broken promises related to permanency and rates of pay, management's disregard for worker safety by attempting to override safety officers and experienced dockworkers, and the targeting of MUA members that led to this dispute," Mr Crumlin said.
 
"ICTSI has a problem. Their rapid expansion has not been accompanied by sufficient managerial oversight to ensure productive industrial relations and compliance with local laws. We've seen this in port after port, country after country. ICTSI – and its local management – need to sit down with the ITF and work out how we can resolve these issues throughout their network.
 
"The ITF is committed to working with port operators who provide good jobs and industrial relations practices at their ports and who prioritise the growth of their business through the development of long-term functional relationships with unions as their social partners."

ENDS

Background
Download the report, ICTSI: global turmoil spreads to flagship VICT terminal, from here: https://goo.gl/TA9kW8

International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) is a Philippines-based container terminal operator, which operates 30 container terminals globally. In recent years, ICTSI has engaged in an ambitious international expansion program.
 
In October 2017, the ITF published a report that identified severe labour violations throughout ICTSI's global network, including: a failure to respect the right to freedom of association; poor safety standards; and illegal outsourcing of labour. Many of these violations are in breach of domestic law in the countries where ICTSI operates and contravene international labour conventions. Download the report, ICTSI's global expansion: a risky proposition?, here: https://goo.gl/MzbhZY

For more information
Luke Menzies, ITF Asia Pacific
mediasydney@itf.org.uk | +61 433 889 844
 

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.

ITF media release: Hutchison’s atrocious safety record worsens as another worker is killed in Jakarta

Hutchison's atrocious safety record worsens as another worker is killed in Jakarta

 

The international maritime community is again in mourning following the death of an Indonesian worker on the job at the Hutchison terminal in Jakarta.

 

International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) President Paddy Crumlin said: "This will be a heart-wrenching time for this man's family, friends and workmates. The ITF extend our thoughts to them all."

 

Serikat Pekerja Jakarta International Container Terminal (SPJICT) chair, Nova Hakim, said: "We are shocked and alarmed by the continuing carnage at the Hutchison's terminal in Jakarta. Two workers have died within two months, and four within the past 15 months. This is an atrocious record that speaks for itself."

 

The ITF and SPJICT are calling on the company to conduct an official inquiry into the death and the circumstance surrounding how this worker fell overboard. The incident again raises serious questions about Hutchison's safety procedures.

 

Paddy Crumlin added: ""Hutchison needs to answer serious questions. Was this man provided with adequate fall protection? Was the outboard fencing on this vessel complete and compliant with international and class standards?

 

"Falls from height – and falls overboard – are 100% preventable. On a modern vessel, there is no reason why a worker should die from a fall from height with proper inspections, proper management of the work environment, proper equipment and engineering controls.

 

"When a person falls overboard, management are often quick to blame the worker. We need to dig deeper to find the root causes of this horrible tragedy.

 

"Did management inspect the vessel on arrival? This is essential practice. Every ship must be inspected, even if it has been worked with many times before. A report or checklist must be done, setting out any deficiencies that were identified. A plan must be made to manage risk of the deficiencies. That's 100% the responsibility of management in the terminal.

 

"The ITF is uncompromising in our commitment to safety. Every employer needs to know the ITF will fight to make sure every worker goes home safe, every day."

 

ENDS

 

For more information, please contact

Luke Menzies, ITF Asia Pacific

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

 

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.

ITF media release: ICTSI “not welcome in Africa”

ICTSI "not welcome in Africa"

 

Global port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) is facing continued resistance to their Africa expansion plans, with the Philippines-owned company again the target of demonstrations, this time in Durban, South Africa.

 

A maritime industry conference featuring a speaker from the embattled ports company will be hit by protest action from worker and community organisations in South Africa who are concerned about labour abuses in ICTSI's global network.

 

The port operator has attracted international condemnation in recent months over emerging patterns of labour violations, poor safety standards, and sloppy management practices.

 

Tim Vancampen, CEO from ICTSI's DRC operation, will be given a fierce reception when he presents to the conference at 11:45 AM local time today.

The demonstration is being led by the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU).

 

Edgar Mbina, Regional Secretary of SATAWU, said: "We are here to send a message to ICTSI that their business model of poor safety and undercutting conditions is not welcome in Africa. We stand with workers in Madagascar, workers in Papua New Guinea, and workers around the world who are fighting for jobs and decent conditions. Wherever ICTSI chooses to expand, we'll be there, standing with those workers, fighting for justice and decent treatment."

 

In October 2017, a report on ICTSI's expansion, 'ICTSI's global expansion: a risky proposition?' (https://goo.gl/UfZgyv), detailed the emerging pattern of labour violations across ICTSI's terminals, including paying poverty wages, poor safety standards endangering workers lives, and illegally out-sourcing jobs to labour-hire companies. The report, authored by the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), demonstrates that ICTSI has a problem with governance.

 

ITF President Paddy Crumlin said: "ICTSI has a problem. Their rapid expansion has not been accompanied by sufficient managerial oversight to ensure productive industrial relations and compliance with local laws. We've seen this in port after port, country after country."

 

In October, ICTSI was hit by lawful demonstrations and actions worldwide in a renewed international push against injustice in the company's global terminal network. ITF affiliate unions held protest actions across 14 locations spanning Africa, Europe and Asia, directly targeting existing ICTSI ports, ports where ICTSI is seeking to expand, and ports that share critical shipping connections with ICTSI ports.

 

"These latest demonstrations send a message to governments and investors thinking of partnering with this company," Paddy Crumlin said.

 

"ICTSI needs to sit down with the ITF and work out how we can resolve these issues throughout their network.

 

"The ITF, and our unions, are committed to supporting port operators who provide good jobs and good industrial relations practices in their ports."

 

ENDS

 

Background
International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) is a Philippines-based container terminal operator, which operates 30 container terminals globally. In recent years ICTSI has engaged in an ambitious international expansion program.

The TOC-Africa conference is a meeting of container terminal operators and their suppliers, and is being held at the International Convention Centre in Durban, South Africa.

 

For more information, please contact:
Luke Menzies, ITF Asia Pacific Campaign Centre, Sydney, Australia.
T: +61 433 889 844 | E: 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.