Up to 3,000 River Advice employees working on river cruise ships for various tour operators and ship owners in Europe will be protected under a pioneering new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), signed by Nautilus International and the Swiss River Advice Group on November 1st.
Minimum wages for the lowest wage categories will increase up to 20%, but in reality, this may rise to 80% as there are instruments foreseen in the CBA to help ensure that overtime is paid.
This CBA is a huge breakthrough and a milestone in the struggle to regulate and improve the working conditions in the River Cruise Sector considering that on 90% of vessels the minimum wage is 800 Euros net or less with no compensation for overtime.
ETF welcomes the CBA and acknowledges it as a first step in the right direction. And indeed, it seems that positive change is on its way for workers in the River Cruise Sector as last Thursday on November 7, the official negotiations for a European-wide agreement between IG River Cruise, European Barge Union (EBU) and ETF commenced in Basel.
European Social Partners hope to reach a meaningful agreement by Autumn 2020.