FOR 460,000 FILIPINO SEAMEN | ‘International bill of rights for seafarers’ enters into force

MANILA – Good news for the Filipino seafarers who comprise about a third of the global maritime fleet: the Maritime Labor Convention 2006, which commits stakeholders to ensure decent work for seamen and level playing field for shipowners, has entered into force for the Philippines.

“Dubbed as the seafarers’ international bill of rights, the MLC 2006 is expected to provide protection to the approximately 400,000 Filipino seafarers deployed overseas, who comprise roughly 30 percent of the global maritime fleet, and to the almost 60,000 domestic seafarers,” Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said.

The MLC 2006 entered into force August 20, one year after the Philippines deposited its instrument of ratification in the International Labor Organization in Geneva, and a couple of days after last week’s collision of a passenger ferry and a cargo ship off Cebu which killed at least 75 people and caused a massive oil spill in the area.

“We mark the entry into force of the MLC 2006 even as we continue to grieve for the victims of the sea tragedy in Cebu City,” Baldoz said.

No safety officers for St. Thomas Aquinas I, Sulpicio Seven

Citing the initial investigation by the Central Visayas regional office of the Department of Labor and Employment, the labor chief said both the St. Thomas Aquinas I and Sulpicio Seven do not have a health and safety committee or safety officers.

“We have yet to ascertain the extent of compliance or non-compliance with labor standards and occupational health and safety by the two ships,” Baldoz said.

“This accident, coming in the heels of the entry into force of the MLC 2006, emphasizes the need for all stakeholders and the government to move fast and stop loss of lives at sea by observing the right balance between ensuring decent work for seafarers and securing fair competition; and ensuring a level playing field for quality ship owners by offering them protection from being undercut by ship owners operating substandard ships or substandard working conditions for seafarers,” she explained.

Baldoz said the Philippines’ ratification of the MLC 2006 was not only a big step for the global maritime industry, but also of tremendous importance to the country as a maritime nation.

What the MLC 2006 is

The MLC 2006 is a comprehensive international instrument that consolidates and updates fundamental principles and labor standards for seafarers, replacing 37 existing ILO maritime conventions and related recommendations adopted since 1920.

Apart from seafarers themselves, other recognized stakeholders include ship owners, manning agencies, international organizations, such as ILO, and local seafarers’ unions, such as the Associated Maritime Officers and Seafarers Union of the Philippines (AMOSUP).

Baldoz said she will meet again with Transportation and Communication Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya and Marina Administrator Maximo Mejia Jr. to discuss the government’s track on the enforcement of MLC 2006. The three met on June 4 on the question of which authority implements the MLC 2006.

In that meeting, Baldoz told her colleagues that the DOLE’s role in seafarers’ working condition and welfare is dictated by the explicit authority vested by the Labor Code upon the Secretary of Labor and Employment to administer and enforce workers’, including seafarers’ labor rights. –InterAksyon.com