MLC 2006: Union Cautions Ship Owners On Next CBA

Seafarers union under the aegis of Nigerian Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association (NMNOWTSSA) has called on ship owners to ensure quick response  to sign the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

 

The Merchant Navy union lamented that the recently signed agreement lingered for so long which in turn affected workers welfare.

 

The association further accused the ship owners’ of negligence for failing to  with the seafarers and the regulatory agency.

 

Speaking with our correspondent in Lagos on Friday, the National President of the association, Engineer Alalade Matthew said the agreement was supposed to have been signed two years earlier.

 

He however commended the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) for its regulatory role in the whole process that led to its fruition.

 

“The thing is that the CAB lingered for a long time for more than two years but we commend the regulating authority for them to make it happen.

 

“It is a good thing because it will foster a good relationship between the seafarers and the ship owners.

 

“The next one will not take so long like this. It will be done when it is due like in other sector, that is, in fishing sextor.

 

“The long duration it took before signing this one caused disaffection among the seafarers.

 

“The cause of the delay is that the ship owners were not coming up for us to round off the negotiation.

 

Alalade added that the agreement signed with its employers is far lower to the International Transport Federation (ITF) standard even as he hoped that the next CAB will meet up with the requirement of ITF.

 

He said, “In the Next CBA, we should look up to meeting the OFF standard because the OFF standard is higher than the CBA we signed because the ITF is an international trade.”