No Change In Minimum Wage For Seafarers
As per the recommendation of International Labour Organization (ILO) Minimum Wage for Able Seafarers is to remain at the same level. At present the basic pay per month is $ 614 and this may continue till 2018. This is equivalent to 431 GBP, 538 Euros, 808 Australian dollars and 825 Singapore dollars.
This is a collective decision taken at ILO Joint Maritime Commission (JMC) in Geneva the previous week. The meeting comprised of important representatives of maritime employers and seafarers’ unions coordinated by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) respectively. Except eleven countries the prices have been increased in all other countries and areas were concerned over the period of adjustment. Around 37 countries and areas, the hike was less than 10 percent. Besides, the other countries had an inflation of more than 10 percent.
The authorities arrived at the decision based on a number of established thoughts:
- The basic pay or wage be based on the list of countries and areas that are representative of maritime nations (those with at least two million gross tons of shipping) and of countries and areas which are major suppliers of seafarers (those with at least 10,000 seafarers).
- That the formula utilize the average United States dollar exchange rate for the three most recent months in order to minimize the short-term effect of drastic fluctuations in currency exchange rates.
- That the period of measurement of the change in consumer prices correspond to the full period of time between adjustments.
- That the formula include a weighting of one for countries and areas with fewer than 10,000 seafarers and of two for those with 10,000 or more.
After the crucial ILO JMC meeting, the spokesperson for the Shipowners’ Group, Max Johns (German Shipowners’ Association) on behalf of ICS said, “The continuation of the current minimum wage until at least 2018, at the increased level which came into effect in January 2016 as a result of the previous JMC agreement, means that employers should benefit from a period of stability in what are otherwise very challenging markets for the global industry.”
ICS as an official ILO social partner supported and showed positive signs with regard to the global minimum wage. This minimum wage is a notion exclusive to the international shipping industry. The ILO minimum refers to the basic wage for the non-officer grade of Able Seafarer. Whereas the over-all minimum payable is a considerably greater while account is taken of overtime payments and other pay related entitlements under the ILO Maritime Labour Convention.
The next meeting will be convened in 2018 to evaluate the ILO minimum wage by the ILO Joint Maritime Commission.
The report outlining the calculations used in making the decision is available here.
Source: ICS
 Minimum Wage for Able Seafarers is to remain at the same level.){kind=link}