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The International Maritime Employers’ Council. Points to be covered. Background. Structure. Objective. Operations. Questions. Background. Established in 1940 as the London Committee of Asian Seamen. 1940. Set up by shipowners sourcing crew from the Indian Sub-continent.
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Points to be covered. • Background. • Structure. • Objective. • Operations. • Questions.
Background. • Established in 1940 as the London Committee of Asian Seamen. 1940 • Set up by shipowners sourcing crew from the Indian Sub-continent. • Originally helped to establish the Indian Maritime Board. • Also instrumental in creation of Maritime Boards in both Pakistan and Bangladesh. • In 1992, re-branded under name of IMEC with 10 members. • In 1998, commenced bargaining directly with the ITF on behalf of the IMEC membership. • In 1998, established the International Maritime Training Trust. • In 2003, became a founding partner of the International Bargaining Forum. 2012 • In 2011, IMEC membership increases to over 140 for the first time. • 2012, 160 members and change of name to International Maritime Employers’ Council.
Objectives. • Provide a forum for employers to exchange views and information on seafarers’ wages and conditions world-wide. • Keep abreast of developments within international regulations of all matters concerning the employment of seafarers. • Form a robust, active and effective employers’ voice in wage negotiations. • Encourage, support and, where appropriate, co-ordinate the development of voluntary collective bargaining arrangements between employers’ and seafarers’ organisations. • Ensure greater stability and certainty over employment costs and avoid local disputes and ship boycotts. • Provide advice and information to members on industrial relations legislation world-wide and on the impact of strikes and boycott actions. • Promote good employment practices and high standards of training and safety among seafarers of all nationalities employed by IMEC members. • Take an active role in the training and future employment of seafarers worldwide.
Operations: the IBF. • The International Bargaining Forum (IBF) was established in 2003 as the mechanism within which representative maritime employers’ organisations and seafarers unions could negotiate, and reach agreement, over the wages and conditions of employment of seafarers serving on ships to which ITF Special Agreements apply. • The IBF meets at least once each year, and more frequently in years when the wage negotiations are conducted. Full meetings usually involve fifty or more representatives of the two sides and the venues are usually significant maritime centres such as London, Tokyo, Rome, Hong Kong, Manila and Singapore. • The IBF usually delegates detailed negotiations of pay claims to a joint working group, which may meet three or four times during the negotiations at different venues. In addition, the IBF has two standing Committees, dealing with welfare fund grants and areas of warlike activity respectively, and ad-hoc working groups are established from time to time to deal with specific issues such as the ILO Maritime Labour Convention or Maritime Piracy.
Operations: the IBF. Although the IBF is a focus for IMEC and incorporates such negotiated agreements as the IBF High Risk Area, IMEC is also a member of the industry roundtable of associations dealing with such issues as criminalisation, fair treatment and welfare. IMEC partners with other organisations such as ICS, ISF, BIMCO, Intertanko and National Shipowners Associations in key areas of mutual interest and is supporting the development, both technically and financially, of BMP4 and such initiatives as the Save our Seafarer Campaign.
Operations: Member benefits under the IBF. • IBF crew contracts and wage scales covering the principal labour supply countries which are significantly more cost-effective than the non-IBF versions. • A special IBF Dispute Procedure to avoid problems arising on particular ships following visits from ITF port inspectors. • An IBF version of the ITF “Special Agreement” which omits many of the more onerous administrative requirements. • The issue by ITF of a “Green Card” to ships covered by IBF Agreements which identifies the ship as entitled to the privileges available through the IBF system. • A reduction in the number of visits made to members’ ships by ITF inspectors. • A 10% refund of contributions made by members to the ITF Welfare Fund and the establishment of an IBF Welfare Fund to hold and disburse these funds. • Advice and assistance from the IMEC secretariat with labour affairs problems, such as MLC imlpementation, and preparation for members’ own wage negotiations. • Option to sponsor cadets under the IMEC Enhanced Cadet Scheme.
Operations: Training Initiatives. IMEC Cadet Enhanced Training Programme (IMEC-CETP): • Commenced in 2006 in response to the global officer shortage. • Addresses quality over quantity. • Guarantees the Cadets’ sea time, funding and post-qualification employment. • Currently have over 900 cadets under the programme, with plans to increase to 1,000 by 2014. • Any IMEC member contributing to IMTT may sponsor cadets.
Operations: Training Initiatives. English Language Training: • 2 courses in operation: Elementary and Pre-intermediate. • 100 hour courses to allow future officers to communicate (spoken and written) in the English Language. • Courses are currently being undertaken in Novorossiysk and Vladivostock.
Operations: Training Initiatives. Rating to Officer Programme: • A grant of $1,000 is available for any IMEC member who successfully promotes a Rating to a qualified Officer. • Open for promotions both within the Deck and Engine departments. • Aims to promote and retain quality seafarers into progressive careers.
And finally….. • Through the formation of strategic industry alliances and by concentrating on its core principle as a membership organisation, IMEC intends to continue to support the requirements and growth of the worldwide marine industry.
