Seafarers’ unions strike deal for a 6 pct pay hike

Seafarers’ unions and maritime employers have signed a four-year agreement that will see significant wage increases and dozens of workplace protections and improvements for over 250,000 seafarers’ serving on more than 10,000 vessels.

The International Bargaining Forum (IBF), the forum that negotiates the world’s largest global collective bargaining agreement, agreed terms for the 2024-2027 IBF Framework Agreement last week in Berlin, Germany.

Seafarers covered by the agreement will receive a 6 percent wage increase over the next two years (4 per cent wage and compensations increase from 1 January 2024 and 2 per cent wage and compensations increase from 1 January 2025). The 2026-27 pay deal and cost items will be negotiated in 2025.

In addition, the agreement includes reference to ILO Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment to reinforce a joint commitment to provide safe workplaces free of violence, discrimination and harassment for all seafarers. There was also a joint recognition of the importance of safe working practices in cargo lashing in the common fight against malpractice.

A new working group was also established that will focus on the future of seafaring and major challenges that the industry faces including the impact of new technology, the introduction of alternative fuels, and ensuring a just transition as the industry responds to climate change. Concerns around seafarers’ hours of work, crewing levels, fatigue and duration of employment will also fall under the remit of the working group.  

Under the agreement, the JNG also committed to remind their members of the importance of respecting national cabotage provisions and committed to working together with the ITF on a strategy to work towards more and more seafarers receiving a reasonable amount of internet access free of charge.

“This has been a particularly complicated set of negotiations coming out of the Covid pandemic, which has taken a great deal of effort and compromise on both sides to get this right for the times. This is a fair deal. We have agreed a working group that will look at the future needs of a changing industry with an eye on the needs of seafarers, with a focus on recruiting,” ITF spokesperson and ITF Seafarers’ Section Chair David Heindel said.

“The pay deal locked into this agreement provides concrete financial recognition for the critical contribution that seafarers make to the global economy and also recognises the sacrifice that seafarers have carried over the past few years and throughout the pandemic. The relationship between ITF and the JNG remains in good shape despite the challenges that these negotiations faced,” ITF President and Dockers’ Section Chair Paddy Crumlin said.

“Over the four years of this agreement, we have a lot of important issues to discuss so that we can continue to enhance the living and working conditions of all seafarers on IBF covered vessels. The biggest challenges we all face is the just transition and the move to alternative fuels,” ITF General Secretary Stephen Cotton said.

“How the industry recruits and motivates our seafarers and ensures they have the skills for the future, this is firmly on our forward-looking agenda.”

As many as 800,000 seafarers will require additional training by the mid-2030s to enable the shipping industry to transition towards alternative low- and zero-carbon fuels and technologies with the aim of keeping global warming to 1.5C or less by 2050, a DNV study shows.

Findings also suggest that a lack of certainty on alternative fuel options is having knock-on effects for seafarer training, as the global maritime community works towards a clearer decarbonization pathway in a post-fossil fuel era. 

”Once again the resilient partnership between JNG and ITF produced an outstanding outcome in the latest IBF round which both sides and their constituents will be happy to bring to their respective members, seafarers were rewarded for the sacrifices they made during the Covid pandemic when they stood out as key workers,” Spokesperson for the Joint Negotiating Group of maritime employers (JNG) and Chairman of IMEC, Captain Belal Ahmed said.

“Post Covid joint initiatives by JNG and ITF to face together the new and unprecedented challenges for our industry will now take centre stage. I believe this partnership is key to address the issues affecting seafarers’ welfare and training today towards the ultimate aim of decarbonising and achieving net zero shipping by 2050 whilst resolving seafarers’ shortages.”