Mariners and shipowners fail to agree on minimum wage
Pay talks at International Labour Organisation (ILO) have broken down.
Talks at the ILO over a new minimum wage for mariners have broken down. Shipowners’ representatives said in a press release yesterday that labour representatives had rejected an offer to increase the minimum wage by an aggregate 3% over three years, raising the compensation floor for crews from $641 per month to $660 by 1 January, 2024.
“Unfortunately the seafarers’ representatives rejected a generous offer from the shipowners in these unprecedented times,” said Natalie Show, employment affairs director at the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS).
“We went further than we had anticipated but the offer was still rejected,” she added.
Shipping is the only industry in the world with an agreed global minimum wage. So far, seafarers’ organisations have not commented on the matter, but Mark Dickinson, Nautilus International general secretary Tweeted that the shipowners’ proposal was “an 11th hour-offer of a pay cut”.
According to ILO rules, the breakdown of the talks means that able seafarers will now not be entitled to any rise in their minimum wage for two years, but shipowners said they “remain open to discussing the minimum wage with the unions in an effort to seek an early resolution”.
