ITF release: ITF welcomes partial victory as ICTSI signs new agreement with PNG dock workers at Lae and Port Moresby

 

24 April 2018

ITF welcomes partial victory as ICTSI signs new agreement with PNG dock workers at Lae and Port Moresby

The International Transport Workers' Federation has welcomed a new union agreement that reinstates pay and conditions for workers at two union ports in Papua New Guinea, but concerns remain over the future of 213 workers still without a contract.

 

The PNG Maritime and Transport Workers' Union (PNGMTWU) has signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Philippine port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) following months of local, worker-led protest and international pressure.

 

ITF president and chair of the ITF dockers' section, Paddy Crumlin, cautiously welcomed the agreement and congratulated the union and its members, but he raised concerns over the future of the 213 workers still without a job offer at Port Moresby.

 

"This Memorandum of Agreement is a significant victory for workers who were looking down the barrel of a 50 per cent wage cut," Mr Crumlin said.

 

"The ITF congratulates the PNGMTWU and its members for digging in and demanding the pay and conditions that PNG dockworkers have fought for over decades.

 

"However the ITF remains concerned that 213 workers are still without a contract after receiving termination notices from the former concession holder at Port Moresby. The transition of these jobs to the new Motukea terminal needs to be urgently addressed by ICTSI."

 

The signing of this agreement shadows months of disruption, following the awarding of concession agreements to ICTSI for the operation of PNG's two major ports in October last year, which had meant a cut in pay and inferior conditions for workers.

 

"The ITF and its affiliate PNGMTWU have drawn constant international attention to this dispute and forced ICTSI to guarantee pre-existing wage rates, industry conditions and protections after the company had cut wages back to the legal minimum," Paddy Crumlin said.

 

"Trade unions across the world will now be watching to ensure that ICTSI honours all of its commitments in PNG, by protecting the jobs of existing dockworkers on decent pay and conditions."

 

Mr Crumlin said it was important to note that the new agreement also recognises the PNGMTWU as representative of the workforce and provides a mechanism to resolve disputes.

 

"This sits in sharp contrast to ICTSI's industrial relations practices elsewhere in the world. For this to be real progress ICTSI must extend this respect for workers' across the entirety of the company's global operations," Mr Crumlin said.

 

"The ITF is prepared to work with ICTSI to progress the fundamental rights of all workers across its global network, to end the exploitation of its global workforce, recognise trade unions and stop undermining the wages, conditions and safety of its workforce." 

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

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ITF release: ITF urges Hutchison Ports to improve global health and safety operations following a serious workplace incident in Australia

180420ITF_EMERGENCY RESOLUTION v2.docx
 

ITF urges Hutchison Ports to improve global health and safety operations following a serious workplace incident in Australia

23 April 2018

The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) urges Hutchison Ports to address a pattern of serious health and safety incidents across their global operations, as a dockworker remains in a critical condition following workplace collision at the company's Port Botany terminal.

The 55-year-old dockworker, and member of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), fell seven metres from her cabin to the concrete below. She remains in an induced coma in hospital after undergoing emergency brain surgery at a Sydney hospital.

The ITF's Executive Board met in London last week and passed a resolution 'strongly urging Hutchison Ports to address a pattern of serious health and safety incidents across their global operations.'

'Hutchison Ports [must] correct its safety record and mitigate any further risk to its workforce and ensure involvement of union representatives', the resolution said.

Paddy Crumlin, ITF President and MUA National Secretary extended the best wishes of the international trade union community.

"We extend our thoughts to our member, her family, and say to them, and workers in Hutchison terminals globally, this only strengthens our resolve to make sure that every dock worker comes home safely to his or her family.

"This is the latest case in a pattern of serious health and safety incidents that have occurred recently in Hutchison terminals. In the past 18 months in the Asia Pacific region alone, there have been four fatal incidents at Hutchison's JICT terminal in Jakarta.

"Reports that MUA officials were not allowed on site, and that Hutchison has failed its obligations under local laws due to a lack of consultation with Health and Safety Representatives in the lead-up to this tragic accident, are highly concerning.

"Hutchison is the biggest stevedore in the world and has an obvious responsibility to its global workforce to meet occupational health and safety requirements."

The ITF, and affiliate unions, are calling on Hutchison to correct its safety record and mitigate any further risk to its workforce.

Torben Seebold, Vice-Chair of the ITF Dockers' Section and Maritime Coordinator in ver.di added: "The ITF and our affiliate unions, will be contacting Hutchison management to insist they turn around their recent record on workplace health and safety.

"A safe workplace for all transport workers everywhere around the globe is a top priority for the ITF. Workplace injuries and deaths are preventable.

"This incident again demonstrates that dock work is still extremely dangerous work, that's why the campaign for better safety is never ending."

ENDS

An investigation into the incident at Port Botany has been launched by Australian authorities including police and safety regulators.

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ITF media release: Global union leaders converge to condemn ICTSI

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ITF_ICTSI1.jpg
 

12 April 2018 

Global union leaders converge to condemn ICTSI

Global unions have once again condemned multinational port operator International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI), for continuing to lower the standards in the global port industry.

Several international unions and the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) general secretary, Steve Cotton, are in Melbourne this week to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the infamous Patrick Stevedores dispute, where dock workers were locked out of the waterfront in what was later determined to be an unlawful act.

Steve Cotton said today: "Twenty years on from the iconic Patrick dispute where hundreds of workers were locked out of their workplace for weeks on end, it seems ICTSI has learnt nothing.

"The right of workers to join a union and collectively bargain was upheld then and the same applies now.

"Twenty years ago, we learnt that global solidarity between workers and their unions can make a difference with Patrick Stevedores eventually forced to reopen their gates and allow workers back on the job.

"Yet ICTSI continues to intimidate its workforce and strip every hard-fought benefit that has been built up over dozens of years of collective bargaining by unionised labour.

"The ITF has documented a pattern of labour rights violations from across ICTSI's global network. Dock workers illegally sacked in Madagascar, workers paid poverty wages in Makassar, discriminating against union members in Melbourne, a worker fatally crushed in Jakarta.

"Unions in South Africa have publically opposed ICTSI's entry into Africa, the world's fastest growing port market. Unions protested today in Melbourne, with the ITF calling on ICTSI to end the exploitation of its workforce, targeting of trade unionists, and undermining of their rights across the company's global operations.

"The ITF together with unions across the world, in every part of ICTSI's global supply chain, will continue to campaign until ICTSI stops undermining the wages and conditions of its workforce.

"The Patrick dispute showed us the power of global solidarity. If unions across the world – including those in the United States, Europe and New Zealand – had not stood shoulder to shoulder with their Australian brothers and sisters we may well have seen a different result.

"We've learnt that lesson. The ITF, the newly amalgamated Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy union, and our global affiliates stand in solidarity. We will tackle whichever operator we have to tackle, track whichever shipping company we have to track from any port, to pressure ICTSI to respect workers' hard fought rights.

"The ITF is committed to working with port operators who provide good jobs, have good industrial relations practices at their ports and prioritise the growth of their business through the development of long-term, functional relationships with unions as their social partners."

END

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

The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) creates borderless solidarity among transport workers in every corner of the globe. We support 670 affiliate trade unions in 140 countries, representing 19.7 million workers.

>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: ITF recommends shareholders vote against ICTSI directors

ITF recommends shareholders vote against ICTSI directors

 

15 March 2018

 

The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) today released a shareholder advisory note detailing governance issues at International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI).

 

The ITF is recommending that ICTSI shareholders vote against directors Stephen A. Paradies and Jon Aboitiz at ICTSI's 2018 Annual Stockholders' Meeting on 19 April 2018. The ITF believes that these directors bear meaningful responsibility for major governance and operational issues at the company.

 

Paddy Crumlin, president of the ITF and vice-chair of the ITUC's Committee on Workers Capital (CWC) said: "ICTSI has grown over the last decade. This growth has been accompanied by a failure to put in place decent and sustainable governance structures in line with accepted international best-practice.

 

"Proxy advisor Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), the ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard and the Philippines' Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) all recommend that firms have at least three independent directors. Yet ICTSI only has two independent directors, out of a board of seven.

 

"The fact that the Razon family hold over 60 per cent of the voting rights at ICTSI, the lack of board independence should be a major concern for shareholders."

 

The ITF notes that even ICTSI's own documents highlights this as a risk to outside shareholders:

 

"…the Razon Family exercises control over or has significant ability to influence major policy decisions of the Company, including its overall strategic and investment decisions, dividend plans, issuances of securities, adjustments to its capital structure, mergers, liquidation or other reorganisation and amendments to its Articles of Incorporation and By-laws.

 

"If the interests of the Razon family conflict with the interests of other shareholders of the Company, there can be no assurance that the Razon Family would not cause the Company to take action in a matter which might differ from the interests of the other shareholders."

 

Paddy Crumlin added: "The Board Risk Oversight Committee, chaired by Mr. Paradies, has failed to ensure that ICTSI's internal controls are significant enough to avoid major operational issues, including major port disputes and relationships with censured regimes.

 

"In the last 18 months, ICTSI has seen protracted disputes at five terminals, disputes that have directly affected multiple port stakeholders, including governments, global brands and shipping lines. 40 per cent of ICTSI's ports are operated with partnerships involving regimes that are either internationally censured or under investigation for crimes against humanity.

 

"These directors seem to have been unsuccessful in guiding the company towards outcomes that are better for all shareholders. We call on shareholders to vote against these directors and send a message to ICTSI management that these governance issues must be addressed."

 

The ITF believes greater board independence will help ensure that minority shareholder interests are safeguarded. Additionally, the Philippines SEC recommends that directors with more than nine years of Board membership should not be considered independent. If this recommendation was rigorously enforced at ICTSI, none of its directors would qualify as independent.

 

View the proxy statement here.

 

For more information

 

Contact Luke Menzies, ITF Asia Pacific

+61 433 889 844

votenoICTSI@itf.org.uk 

 

Background

 

The ITF is a global union federation of over 700 transport unions, representing over 19 million transport workers from 150 countries. The ITF advises union benefit funds and their trustees on matters of corporate governance and other policy issues. The ITF is interested in the long-term success of ICTSI, its employees, and other key stakeholders. The CWC connects labour union organizations around the world to advance the responsible investment agenda on the global stage.

>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.

Best of the week 19 - 25 | 02 | 2018

 

ENLIGHTEN YOUR WAY BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK Graphic design by the PhotoPhore   CALL FOR VIDEO ARTISTS: TECH BREAK The PhotoPhore, proud partner of ADAF 2018, opens its call for artists TECH BREAK. We are searching for video-art works, short movies, digital and animation films, to include in our official selection for the 14th Athens Digital Arts Festival – ADAF 2018. The screening will be part of the festival programmed from May 2018 in Athens, Greece. The participation is for FREE. Deadline: March 28, 2018   Discover on thephotophore.com Image courtesy of Miss Van & Weinstein Gallery   CONVULSIVE BEAUTY | LEONOR FINI & MISS VAN AT WEINSTEIN GALLERY Weinstein Gallery (San Francisco) is pleased to present Leonor Fini | Miss Van – Convulsive Beauty: Then & Now, a surrealistic dialogue composed from the paintings of two artists born seventy years apart. Leonor Fini | Miss Van – Convulsive Beauty: Then & Now 17.02.2018 – 24.03.2018   Discover on thephotophore.com Image courtesy of Marco Dabbicco. Graphic design by the PhotoPhore   PHOTO WORKSHOPS VENICE | JOIN US! The PhotoPhore is extremely proud to present its Photo Workshops VENICE! We are organizing the new adventure of Photo Workshops VENICE joining our passion for art and photography with the work of an emerging talent of photography, Marco Dabbicco, to give you the opportunity to shot in one of the most beautiful Art City in the world!   Discover on thephotophore.com   Discover: thephotophore.com     The PhotoPhore is a 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 | February 2018 © the PhotoPhore 2018

 

 

 

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ITF release: New IBF agreement secures the rights of dockers to do the lashing

 

 

New IBF agreement secures the rights of dockers to do the lashing

 

23 February 2018

 

The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) and Joint Negotiating Group (JNG) met in Manila from 19-22 February 2018, for the final round of negotiations for the creation of the new IBF Framework Agreement 2019-2022. On 23 February 2018, the ITF's expanded Fair Practices Committee Steering Group (FPC SG) met and approved the terms of the new International Bargaining Forum (IBF) Agreement (Read more here: https://goo.gl/gxZuvz).

 

The members of the FPC SG highlighted the new terms agreed in Article 4, Non-Seafarers Work or the "Dockers' Clause", as it is often referred to, as a significant development in securing work for dockers. The revised clause and the new implementation procedure clarifies the dockers' right to carry out lashing and other cargo handling services in ports.

 

Dr Conrad Oca, President of Associated Marine Officers' and Seamen's Union of the Philippines (AMOSUP), which is one of the major labour supply unions in the world, and second vice-chair of the ITF Seafarers' Section, said: "We are very pleased with the outcome of the IBF negotiations. The revised Dockers' Clause is of special significance and demonstrates the reciprocal solidarity between seafarers and dockers."

 

Torben Seebold, vice-chair of the ETF and ITF International Dockers' Section and ver.di maritime coordinator, said: "I would like to thank the seafarers who stood behind us and supported us in making this great achievement happen. It was not easy to achieve but we did it. With immediate effect, we have a mandate to approach companies operating in the Baltic Sea, northern and western Europe and Canadian waters to demand that lashing work be exclusively carried out by dockers, with this requirement to be fully implemented by 1 January 2020. We have been fighting to reclaim lashing for dockworkers as part of the ETF/ITF lashing campaign [www.ReclaimLashing.org] since May 2015. This is a huge step forward."

 

Paddy Crumlin, ITF president and chair of the Dockers' Section, said: "The signing of the Dockers' Clause represents a recognition of the importance of having trained, experienced dockers undertaking this dangerous work. It's a win for both seafarers and dockers in an environment where some shipowners continue to exploit seafarers and dockers. Conditions, safety and wages are under attack from companies like Philippines-based International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI). This Agreement shows the power of solidarity across all maritime workers."

 

Ray Familathe, ILWU international vice-president (USA), said: "This is a tremendous achievement for dockers across the world. Lashing is a key part of a docker's role. History has been made today."

 

END

 

 

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ITF release: International Bargaining Forum Concludes Final Round of Negotiations

International Bargaining Forum Concludes Final Round of Negotiations

 

The International Bargaining Forum, shipping's largest industrial relations collective, concludes final round of negotiations for the 2019-2022 IBF Framework Agreement.

22 February 2018

MANILA: The ITF and JNG met in Manila from February 19-22 2018, for the final round of negotiations for the creation of the new IBF Framework Agreement. 

 

The negotiations have been particularly challenging, this time around, due to the profit instabilities in certain parts of the industry. Both parties acknowledged the need to support the growth of the market, but also the need to maintain sustainable and fair employment for the seafarers employed on JNG vessels worldwide.

The talks were successfully concluded today with the Framework Agreement signed. The clauses of the agreement will now be valid for a four-year period, with a review of the wages after two years. The main points of the agreement were:

•       A salary increase of 2.5% from 1 January 2019

•       An increase in JNG members' rebate from the ITF Welfare Fund to 16%, with an additional 2% available based on an incentive system

•       Re-grading of the Warlike Area off the coast of Somalia to a High Risk Area and the addition of a Warlike Area 12nm off the mainland coast of Yemen

•       Changes to various contractual clauses, including a revision to the article covering non-seafarers' work effective 1st March 2018

•       Enhanced welfare support for seafarers

      

Dave Heindel, chair of the ITF Seafarers' Section, said: "We are committed to ensuring we gain and maintain fair wages and safe working conditions for seafarers and dockers across the world. It is important that we use this opportunity to draw on experience from the existing agreement, to re-think its organisation, to clarify and simplify the language and to secure a solid, usable agreement that will form the base in the coming years of our relationship."

 

Paddy Crumlin, president of the ITF, added: "Seafarers and dockers face serious challenges on a daily basis and it is absolutely essential that their needs are at the forefront of these negotiations. These are undoubtedly challenging times, yet with mutual respect and collegiality, together we have come to terms on a new agreement."

The JNG Spokesperson, Capt. Rajesh Tandon, who chaired the talks, said: "The past 14 months have been particularly tough. The forum originally met in Tokyo last July, with the full intention to conclude at that time. However, it quickly became apparent that neither party was in a position to move at that stage. A lot of work has gone on in the interim, including concessions to address the Dockers' concerns, which has allowed the forum to re-negotiate and conclude a mutually acceptable agreement." 

 

Following the conclusion of the negotiations, JNG chairman, Capt. Koichi Akamine, said: "The fact that we've been able to renegotiate and conclude on a new agreement, with the current challenging market conditions, is testament to the IBF process and the members representing both the unions and the employers. This reinforces the trust and mutual respect that both sides have gained over the past 15 years."

 

Having originally been created on the 9th May 2003, the IBF is celebrating its 15-year anniversary in 2018. With a rapidly growing presence, IBF CBA's cover in excess of 200,000 seafarers.

ENDS

 

Notes to editors

The IBF was formed in 2003 as a mechanism for collective bargaining between maritime employers and maritime unions over the wages and conditions of employment for seafarers serving on foreign flag ships covered by ITF Special Agreements.

 

Maritime employers are represented by the International Maritime Employers' Council (IMEC), the International Shipping Employers' Group (ISEG), which incorporates the International Maritime Managers' Association of Japan (IMMAJ), and the Taiwanese company Evergreen, and the Korean Shipowners' Association.

 

Together they form the Joint Negotiating Group (JNG), which allows maritime employers to present to the ITF a coordinated view of employers from across the world.

 

The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) represents 684 unions in 140 countries including maritime affiliates throughout the world representing in excess of 600,000 seafarers.

 

The IBF negotiations include both central negotiations and local negotiations which allow for development of core principles which can then be incorporated into specific local arrangements. This unique approach to pay negotiations is the only example of international collective bargaining.

 

 

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.