Unions representing more than 180,000 tug, towage, river cruise, and other inland waterways and ferry workers globally gathered in Amsterdam this week for the ITF’s Inland Navigation Section Conference.
“Inland navigation is a diverse sector with different working lives led by our affiliate’s members across the different industries. What unites us is that we move the world.
“Our jobs are critical to moving the people and cargo that keeps the world and its economy moving forward, and we are very proud of that,” said ITF Inland Navigation Section chair, Yury Sukhorukov.
“Our biggest challenge is a lack of consistent rules and regulations from governments, and inconsistent treatment by the firms that determine the direction of our industries,” he said.
The conference heard from supply chain leaders, sustainable transport experts, and workers from the river cruise sector who face a lack of consistency along their journeys, from employers and from the countries they dip in and out of.
Many of the delegates also identified climate change as an issue increasingly affecting workers. River levels in both South America and Europe ran so low due during summer months in recent years to prevent the waterways’ navigability by river cargo vessels.
“While our problems are local, the solutions are global. Our conference has been a productive, inspiring one – leaving us united to fight strongly for inland navigation workers for the next five years to come,” said Sukhorukov.
