02 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | July 2015
NAUTILUS AT WORK
Viking River protests ‘will be stepped up’ branch meeting, held in Basel F last month, heard that the Union Nautilus International’s Swiss
will continue to put pressure on management at Viking River Cruises in a row over changes in staff contracts. In March, to coincide with the company’s launch of new vessels, Nautilus organised a demonstration in Amsterdam to raise public awareness about the way Viking management had treated its employees. At the beginning of the year, Viking River Cruises changed employees’ contracts and began paying them in Euros at the December 2014 exchange rate. Two Nautilus members were then sacked by the company when they approached the Union for advice over the changes.
Owners and unions in call to cut admin A
European seafaring unions and shipowners have made a joint call to the European Commission for long-awaited action to cut the administrative burden on ships’ crews. The European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) and the European Community Shipowners’ Association (ECSA) have written to Fotis Karamitsos, of the EC transport directorate, to seek assurances on a proposed action plan to simplify procedures through integrated IT systems and harmonised reporting procedures. The letter expresses concern that a number of EU initiatives seeking to cut red tape focus on the technical and
operational aspects of the problems, and it urges the Commission to consider the human element. The industry also wants to see action by Brussels to coordinate ship inspections to reduce delays and improve turnaround times. And the unions and owners are also pressing for harmonised interpretation and application of Schengen Visa rules for crew. The ETF and ECSA have complained about the lack of a formal response from the Commission to the joint action plan and have raised questions about the industry’s involved in a Brussels forum to discuss IT issues in transport.
National secretary Holger Schatz told the Swiss branch members that Nautilus had been invited to a meeting with management following this demonstration, but the company had refused to make any concessions. The meeting lasted about three hours, but management rejected the Union’s complaints about the disadvantages to staff and the bullying tactics surrounding the contract changes, Mr Schatz said. ‘They said that all employees had signed the new contracts and no one had been pressured, so this must mean that all employees are happy with the changes.’ He said Nautilus is planning further protests and ship visits to speak with staff over the summer river cruise season.
Mr Schatz said that the branch was also in discussion with the Unia union to discuss the possible transfer of members working in ports. He explained that they often worked for the same companies that Nautilus had agreements with, and Nick Bramley had represented many of them during his time as the Union’s national organiser. The meeting also congratulated several long-serving members of the Union. Pictured left are Manfred Eichenberger (55 years of membership) and Rudolf Hirschi (50 years of membership) who were presented with certificates and wine by general secretary Mark Dickinson and international organiser Nick Bramley.
New plans to fight fatigue
On 6 June, as the city slept,
Olympic Park, Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square, across Tower Bridge, and past Canary Wharf, the Royal Opera House and the London Eye. This was the Nightrider challenge — a fundraising event where the participants cycled up to 100km in the dark, past 50 of London’s world-famous landmarks. And among them was Team Nautilus, pictured above, who were raising money for the Mission to Seafarers.
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The team consisted of Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson, Andrew Waring and Tracey Marshall from the Merchant Navy pensions administrator Ensign, and Tom McNaughton from MNOPF law firm Baker & McKenzie. ‘It was tough but really enjoyable,’ said Mark, ‘and it was all done for a very good cause. We reached our target of £1,500 thanks to the generous support of our sponsors, including Nautilus, and we hope to raise even more.’ g Donations are still welcome via www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/ Nautilusint
Nautilus member Gottfried F ‘Göpf’ Streuli, pictured above, who Tributes have been paid to
died on his 87th birthday on 6 June. Mr Streuli was a key figure in the unionising of river boatmen on the Rhine. He worked for the Swiss Shipping Company, starting as an apprentice in 1942 and becoming a boatmaster in 1952. He was a founding member of the Rhine Shipping branch of the Swiss transport union VHTL/FCTA, formed in 1952 in response to the difficult conditions in the industry and salary cuts for non-domiciled boatmen. He served on its committee until his retirement, including 20 years as president. ‘We have lost a highly valued and respected member of the inland waterways community in Basel,’ said Nautilus international organiser Nick Bramley.
Union involved in research into different watch patterns
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Nautilus International is involved in further work to build on the findings of the Project Horizon research into seafarer fatigue, assistant general secretary Marcel van den Broek told last month’s Council meeting. The Union is participating in the new project examining the effects of different watch patterns on seafarer tiredness, he explained. Masters and mates on six vessels are being followed over six weeks, while operating their vessels in a variety of work and rest rotas. Dutch owners have been seeking to introduce more flexible watch patterns — especially on those with a two-OOW system. ‘However, this flexibility is now restricted by national legislation that requires seafarers to take a rest after every six hours of work,’ Mr van den Broek explained.
On the positive side, he added, trials suggest that there are better watch patterns and there is also evidence to show that many shipowners are now putting more seafarers on their ships than required by the minimum safe manning requirements. Henk Eijkenaar said he had served on six-on/six-off rotas for some time and believed the system did not cause problems if it was done properly. And, he cautioned, many ships simply don’t have the accommodation to enable extra crew to be carried. But Aike Cattie described sixon/six-off as ‘a crazy system’ that left many seafarers with insufficient and inadequate rest, especially when combined with ship movement and noise. Jessica Tyson said some owners are increasing crew complements because they recognised that ships are safer and more effi-
cient when they are operated by well-rested seafarers. Stephen Gudgeon said the industry is also under pressure from charterers and insurers to ensure that hours of work and rest regulations are complied with — especially in the tanker sector. ‘While we want to stick to the rules, the problem is often not with the people onboard but it is about the authorities and the ports themselves not thinking about the implications of their actions and how this impacts on the ship and the seafarers,’ he pointed out. ‘Captains and chief engineers in particular can suffer when ports are badly organised and when we get called on at short notice for long standbys, sent out early, doing bunkers and port entry, and then SIRE inspections.’ g Managers warn on minimum safe manning — see page 7.
Riding for the Mission Human rights presentation some 3,000 cyclists swept F through the Queen Elizabeth
Death of a loyal Swiss member
Council members were given F a presentation on the work of Nautilus International
the Human Rights At Sea (HRAS) organisation at their meeting last month. HRAS founder David Hammond said he had launched the charity last year in an attempt to focus global attention on the need to better protect the human rights of everyone in the marine environment. Mr Hammond, a former Royal Navy officer who trained as a barrister, said the issues had not been on the agenda when he began work — and HRAS has the explicit aims of ensuring
that human rights, as defined by the United Nations, are effectively implemented for seafarers, fishers and others working at sea. ‘I am very proud of the organisation and what it has achieved in putting human rights at sea on the map,’ he told Council members. ‘The development has been remarkably quick and reflects what we see as a clear gap in the international space for such a charitable body and its investigatory and advocacy work.’ Citing a number of cases of horrendous abuse at sea, Mr Hammond said human rights at sea should be explicit and not implied.
However, he argued, the concept is often ignored and there appears to be a growing need to tackle problems such as slavery and human trafficking. Mr Hammond said HRAS has carried out a mix of case studies and projects, and has established the first reporting programme for missing seafarers. It has also helped to develop the first independently drafted guidance on the lawful detention of criminal suspects at sea, which provides detailed checklists for owners, masters and crew to ensure that the human rights of suspected criminals are protected if they are detained onboard a ship.
Dutch branch pay tributes to Hylke Hylkema Nautilus International Dutch F branch meeting last month paid Delegates attending the
warm tributes to Hylke Hylkema, above, as he retired from the board of the Union’s residual legal entity. Assistant general secretary Marcel van den Broek said it would be a ‘mission impossible’ to list all the success that Hylke had achieved during his 41-plus years of work for Nautilus and its Dutch predecessors. General secretary Mark Dickinson said Hylke had played a leading role in the negotiations that resulted in the creation of Nautilus International in 2009 and praised his subsequent work as senior policy adviser. ‘In that role he has been a rock and very supportive of the leadership of Nautilus as we build a Union fit for the future,’ Mr Dickinson added. Speaking on behalf of the shipowners, Erwin Meijnders described Hylke as an intelligent and persistent but fair fighter for maritime professionals. The annual meeting also included a symposium which discussed the state of the Dutch maritime labour market and the Union’s proposals for the future of the maritime cluster.
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