The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) is set to enforce the rights of seafarers working onboard vessels operating within the nation’s waters.
Towards this end, the union has set up a special taskforce to monitor and compel ship owners and manning agents to comply with relevant provisions of the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC).
The labour law seeks to enforce the rights of seamen working onboard various merchant ships across the world.
The MLC 2006 is an international agreement of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) which sets out seafarers’ rights to decent conditions of work. It is sometimes called the Seafarers’ Bill of Rights.
The tripartite agreement with ship owners, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the union, has not yielded any positive results.
It was gathered that MWUN has also appointed its deputy president general, Comrade Douglas Emobolor, as national chairman of the taskforce while Comrade Dennis Unefeke will serve as the Lagos State coordinator.
It was also learnt that the union has officially written to the regulatory agency, NIMASA, Marine Police and the Nigerian Navy for clearance with a view to commencing full operations to patrol the waterways.
The taskforce is charged with carrying out on-the-spot assessment with workers aboard ships operating in Nigerian waters.
Nigerian seafarers are also expected to use the opportunity to air their grievances about the terms and conditions under which they work.
No comments:
Post a Comment