On February 9 the representatives of the national platform of labor unions presented in Odessa gathered again to discuss the results of the collective agreement first presentation, and also questions of MLC ratification by Ukraine.
The main intention of the audience was to involve the support from the government. They were sure sooner or later there would be some support from the Ministry of Social Policy. “We have already sent hundreds of letters. Actually, everybody is interested in this matter. Also, we work with committees of the Verkhovna Rada, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada”, reported the participants of the meeting.
As Maxim Slyusarevsky, the chairman of Federation of maritime labor unions of Ukraine noted, “the presentation of the frame collective agreement on February 9 showed that it is necessary for seamen, for crew agencies and shipowners. And sooner or later it will get an appropriate support. Now we correspond actively with shipowners and Associations of shipowners, with media to inform about our purposes. The more open and transparent we are, the quicker we will be able to break the existing bad practice. I expect some opposition from the marine transport workers union of Ukraine and ITF. But we are ready for this situation because we are open, we have nothing to hide”.
“After our presentation we face some criticism, it is rather various, but anyway the criticism is necessary too. Unlike our contractors, we are ready for openness. And we work really on behalf of seamen. We are ready to show our documentation, we aren’t some fake labor unions as some try to say.
We will demand transparency from the government in the sphere of collective agreements with the foreign companies. Since the beginning of the 90th in Ukraine officials has had only one attitude: do that you want, only don’t touch us and give us money. There is an employment act including employment abroad. But there is also an international private law which says that employment abroad and the corresponding employment and collective agreements are made not by the legislation of Ukraine. And the companies should submit collective agreements or the certificate of their absence to the Ministry of social policy. But what kind of document it should be, what it should contain, nobody knows. We want the government to explain this question. Because if it isn’t explained, then we understand that it isn’t fair, and there is a corruption”, the inspector of the Ukrainian independent maritime labor union Boris Babin considers.”At our meeting the directors of crew agencies said that they had collective agreements with a $1300 rate, the others had a rate of $1800. This is a real malversation. It is a discrimination of the seaman. Perhaps, it is also caused by something, but everything should be proved and open, without some behind-the-scenes games.
The government should execute the role of a certain registrar to determine rules of the game which it would be possible to refer then. Then in any port, any Port State Control could be told that there are a collective agreement and the regulations of the legislation of Ukraine. And when there is no legislation, and our bodies pretend that nothing occurs, it is wrong. If you issue licenses, and there are words “collective agreement”, it is necessary to be responsible for these words”, B. Babin added.
According to M. Slyusarevsky, the audience had no purpose to limit the employer in some way. The collective agreement which was told about was a framework that it was a pattern in which it was possible to change a lot of things”.
“Our collective agreement underwent the estimation procedure in the Ministry of Social Policy Research institution of work and employment. And this institute concluded that this agreement doesn’t worsen the worker’s situation in comparison with existing. We made a standard for the industry and we want it to be used. We have done huge work, translated it into Ukrainian. Because the Ukrainian ITF labor union signs certain documents in English or Russian, and these documents can’t be accepted in our clerical work. But nobody pays attention. And we are not against if someone takes our agreement and uses it for the protection of some seaman’s rights. We have no obsession with own interests. We have much a wider task”, B. Babin added.
“We declare that labor unions should unite, should work together, there should be a communication. It is wrong when MTWTU declares a monopolism, their politics is they the unique correct labor union in Ukraine which has the right to resolve all issues. But it is incorrect.
Now the MLC Convention has been ratified and begins to work in the majority of the countries of the world. Now Port State Control has powers in countries ratified the Convention to detain the vessel in connection with the violation of the labor law based on a reasonable complaint of a seaman. ITF passes into the background”, M. Slyusarevsky emphasized.
“If a seaman in country X has some problems, there were options to appeal to the local court or to the consulate which at best would buy a ticket or address to the ITF inspector. Now a seaman has the right to require the help of the port control in any port.
The port control inspector is an official who has obligations, instructions and who values his work place. And he is obliged to help a seaman. But the inspectors of ITF are obliged to nobody, it is a public organization. Just think about which of them will be more effective to address? An ITF inspector can be the only one in the country. To meet him is a real problem. But a port control is in every port.
After the entry into force of the MLC Convention, the standard of protection of the seaman’s rights has changed. And it is rather simple to a fair labor union to push port control and to force it to be engaged in what he should be engaged”, B. Babin explained.
According to participants of the meeting if about 10 years ago where was nobody to address except ITF, but now this legal lever for the problem resolution appeared. “There is a port control and a flag control now. It is an inevitable progress. Also, the fact that MTWTU doesn’t take any public actions for the promotion of MLC in Ukraine for some reason is still remarkable. I don’t see any actual work. They wrote a petition on the President’s website a year ago, but it collected less than 100 votes. When a labor union has 70 thousand seamen as they say, how it was possible to collect less than 100 votes for such important petition in 3 months “, M. Slyusarevsky.
“We have provided our work long ago. The number of our paper work can be measured in kilograms of paper; in 2014 we managed to achieve two important things: it was succeeded to get a confirmation about the necessity of convention ratification, and the second – there was made a decision what body in our country is responsible for MLC acceptance. In 2014 the Ministry of infrastructure agreed that it was their parish. We achieved that the Convention was included into the plan of legislative reforms. Till January 1, 2017, the Bill of ratification of the Convention should have come into the Verkhovna Rada, but still the things are right where they have started. We should force the Cabinet of Ministers to reach the Verkhovna Rada with this bill.
A “remarkable” foreign affairs committee and its head madam Gopko, have answered us two times that discussion of the Convention ratification isn’t included into their competence. What a foreign affairs committee! It is simply ridiculous. Our task to press through the Convention so the bill will reach the Verkhovna Rada. Therefore we will open doors in committees and nevertheless demand the pronouncement of the bill”, Boris Babin summed up.
