Maritime unions
Automatic translation
Labor regulation issues are always one of the key problems of every state. Ensuring compliance with legal regulations and protecting workers in all industries is the foundation for the successful functioning of a country. With the development of transportation and the globalization of the economy in general, the issue of legal protection of transport workers and seafarers in particular has become very acute. Trade unions have become one of the most important organizations helping to protect and defend the rights of seafarers.
Seafarers' unions
It is hardly possible today to find at least one seafarer, even among the students, who does not have an idea of the seafarers' unions. Unfortunately, this is primarily due to the frequent cases of legal conflicts that arose between seafarers and their employer. These questions may concern both non-payment of wages or not in full, and more terrible things - injury or, even worse, the loss or death of a seafarer. Whenever a seafarer finds himself in such a situation, seafarers' unions come to the rescue. This is their key task - to protect the rights and interests of seafarers, both collectively and individually.
The concept of "collective rights" and their upholding means the following tasks: ensuring the minimum wage level, ensuring and observing the right to safe work, ensuring the possibility of obtaining adequate medical care and receiving compensation payments if a seafarer is injured while working at sea, his death on board, cases of abandonment.
The protection of the individual rights of the seafarer can be carried out by trade unions in such matters as: refusal of the employer to pay wages, groundless termination of the employment contract by the shipowner, lack of provision of acceptable working conditions on the ship and refusal of the shipowner to pay compensation costs in the event of injury to the seafarer, occupational disease and his death.
In Ukraine, the protection of the rights of seafarers is carried out by such organizations as the PRMTU (Trade Union of Maritime Transport Workers of Ukraine) and FMSU (Federation of Maritime Trade Unions of Ukraine). In total, both organizations protect the rights of about 120,000 Ukrainian seafarers around the world. It is important to note that PWMTU is the only maritime organization in Ukraine with ITF membership. Thanks to this, the PMTU can conclude contracts of the IBF standard.
Tasks of trade unions
The tasks of each of the seafarers' unions around the world are approximately the same with rare exceptions. As a rule, the main ones include: ensuring the protection of the rights and interests of the members of this trade union working at sea in accordance with the concluded contracts, providing trade union members with work in the appropriate specialties with proper wages and social guarantees, ensuring proper control over the fulfillment of obligations by the shipowner under the contract, including in itself wages and working conditions, providing seafarers-members of the trade union with proper legal assistance in the event of legal problems in the relationship with the shipowner, ensuring the provision of proper assistance to seafarers on any issues.
As a rule, all functions, tasks and working conditions of maritime trade unions are specified in their charter. To ensure the financial possibilities of the trade union, from its members, contributions are made on a monthly basis. They can be made both directly by seafarers and by their employers-shipowners, withholding from the seafarer's pay.
Thus, membership in a seafarers' union, although not mandatory for employment at sea, is a very important help in case of difficulties in relations with your employer and ensures that your rights are respected.
