ITF Launches East Asian Maritime Action Week

Teams of inspectors from the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) will begin the first East Asian maritime action week of 2015 on Monday, the Federation said in a release.

The teams will include dockers’ and seafarers’ union members, the release said.

The action will be done across ports in Japan, Korea, Russia and Taiwan lasting from 26- 30 January.

The ITF said that the teams will check and enforce decent pay and working conditions on board vessels.

The Federation also announced staging of a rally at Kotoku Kaiun company in Japan over its refusal to engage in dialogue with union representatives.

The ITF has also used these action weeks previously as an opportunity to explain the provisions of the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC), which started to come into force last August and sets minimum standards for seafarers.