On 18 September, the Panhellenic Seamen’s Federation (PNO) and the Federation of Transport, Petroleum and Agriculture Workers (OMEPEGE/FTPAW-SEK) brought trade unions, governments, international institutions and shipowners together in Athens to take stock of two decades of the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) – and, more importantly, to discuss what still needs to change.
Adopted in 2006, the MLC has transformed the international framework protecting seafarers. Often described as the fourth pillar of international maritime regulation, alongside SOLAS, MARPOL and STCW, it established global minimum standards covering working and living conditions, wages, repatriation, medical care and other fundamental rights.
But 20 years on, there is no room for complacency. Minimum standards cannot become the ceiling for seafarers’ rights.
Speaking in Athens, ETF General Secretary Livia Spera warned that uneven implementation and enforcement by flag and port States continue to leave major gaps in protection and undermine fair competition. Working time is one of the clearest examples.
91 hours a week cannot be the benchmark for decent work
Earlier this year, marking the 20th anniversary of the Convention, ETF set out the changes still needed to turn rights on paper into effective protection at sea – from stronger enforcement and Port State Control to tackling excessive working hours.
A new World Maritime University study commissioned by ETF and ITF exposes the enormous difference between working-time protection ashore and at sea.
International maritime rules can still permit seafarers to work up to 91 hours in seven days, while research analysed in the study found seafarers working an average of almost 75 hours per week.
These are not just questions of working conditions. Fatigue affects concentration, judgement and reaction times, making excessive working hours a serious maritime safety issue. Ships operate around the clock, but this cannot justify working patterns that would be unacceptable in most shore-based industries.
For ETF, tackling fatigue and excessive working time must therefore be part of the next chapter of the MLC.
PNO Secretary General Capt. Emmanuel Tsikalakis also put working time, fatigue and mental health at the heart of his intervention. While recognising the enormous contribution the MLC has made to seafarers everywhere, he stressed that these unresolved problems are increasingly linked to another major challenge facing European shipping: attracting and retaining young people in the profession.
OMEPEGE/FTPAW-SEK Secretary General Charalambos Avgoustis similarly called for stronger implementation of the Convention and further action to ensure that the rights it establishes are delivered in practice.
Rights on paper need enforcement at sea
Strong standards only protect workers if they are properly enforced. This requires effective inspections and authorities equipped to identify violations, whether they concern working and rest hours, unpaid wages or other serious breaches of seafarers’ rights.
ETF therefore wants the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) to play a stronger role, including through more robust and standardised training for Port State Control inspectors and greater attention to the effective enforcement of MLC requirements.
Twenty years of experience with the Convention have also shown the importance of international cooperation. ITF General Secretary Stephen Cotton stressed in Athens that the MLC’s strength comes from the tripartite partnership between workers, governments and employers that created it – and that the same partnership must now confront a new generation of challenges.
Together with trade union action, the ITF Flag of Convenience campaign, collective agreements and the global network of ITF inspectors, the Convention has helped recover millions in unpaid wages, support abandoned seafarers and turn fundamental rights into enforceable protections.
The maritime industry has changed enormously since 2006, however, and the framework protecting its workers must continue to evolve with it.
Europe needs socially sustainable shipping
For Europe, this debate is inseparable from the future of its maritime industry. Europe cannot respond to international competition by competing over who can employ seafarers more cheaply or under weaker conditions.
European maritime competitiveness must be built on skilled seafarers, quality jobs, strong social standards and fair competition.
That is why ETF is calling for a European Maritime Space for Socially Sustainable Shipping.
Shipping companies that benefit from access to the EU Single Market and European public support must also respect the social standards Europe expects for its workers. Changing the flag of a ship should not mean changing the level of protection afforded to the people working on board.
Fair shipping means fair conditions – wherever a ship is flagged.
The Athens symposium brought together the different sides of the maritime industry around precisely these questions. Trade unions, governments, the ILO and shipowners came together not only to mark 20 years of the MLC, but to discuss how it needs to develop in the years ahead.
The discussion also put into practice the principle of tripartism on which the MLC was built. ITF General Secretary Stephen Cotton, the ILO’s Beatriz Vacotto, Greek Shipping Minister Vassilis Kikilias and Cyprus Deputy Shipping Minister Marina Hadjimanolis were among those joining trade union and shipowner representatives from Greece, Cyprus and across the international maritime community.
ETF congratulates PNO and OMEPEGE/FTPAW-SEK for bringing the maritime community together for a discussion that cannot end with celebrating the achievements of the past 20 years.
The MLC has changed seafarers’ lives for the better. The task now is to make sure the next 20 years deliver even stronger rights, better enforcement and a maritime industry in which decent work and safety come before competition on labour costs.
