TUC welcomes new maritime labour agreement

date: 7 August 2013

embargo: For immediate release

The TUC has today (Wednesday) welcomed the announcement that the UK is to ratify the International Labour Organisation's Maritime Labour Convention (MLC).

The MLC guarantees that every seafarer, working on a ship flagged to a signatory state, is entitled to:

• A safe and secure workplace that complies with safety standards
• Fair terms of employment
• Decent working and living conditions on board ship
• Health protection, medical care, welfare measures and other forms of social protection

The new convention will come into force on August 20, 2013. However, the TUC remains concerned that funding cuts to the Maritime and Coast Guard Agency will make it harder to enforce

TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady said: 'We are delighted that the government has signed up to this convention following a great campaign by theRMT and Nautilus unions, along with the British Chamber of Shipping.

'However we remain concerned that funding cuts to the Maritime and Coast Guard Agency will make it harder to enforce decent working conditions for seafarers.

'Abuses in the maritime industry can be harder to spot than in other sectors, and enforcement cannot be delivered on the cheap.'

NOTES TO EDITORS:

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Contacts:

Media enquiries:
Rob Holdsworth T: 020 7467 1372 M: 07717 531150 E: rholdsworth@tuc.org.uk
Alex Rossiter T: 020 7467 1337 M: 07887 572130 E: arossiter@tuc.org.uk