The strike is lead by unions FILT CGIL, Fit Cisl and Uiltrasporti Nazionale, affiliates of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and Dockers’ division of the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF).
All Italian ports are shut today, according to the Political Secretary of ETF Dockers Livia Spera. Based on the available information so far, the city of Genoa is blocked with several thousand people hitting the streets, while workers have organized gatherings in other smaller ports as well. Seafarers have joined the strike as it is also in their interest that lashing is done by dockers, Spera said.
Exact data on how many vessels are being affected by the delays due to the ongoing work stoppages is yet to be determined.
In line with the latest International Bargaining Forum (IBF) framework agreement reached between the ITF and Joint Negotiating Group (JNG) in February, only dockworkers have the exclusive rights to carry out lashing and other cargo handling services in ports for ships which are sailing under the flag of convenience.
As explained by Spera, Italian legislation allows national companies to carry out self-handling, which basically means that crew members of Italian-flagged ships can carry out lashing in particular circumstances. However, on such occasions, the shipping companies are required to get a permission from the relevant port authority.
Over the past six months, shipping companies have started to abuse this right and, have even breached the law, asking their seafarers to perform loading and unloading activities without obtaining port authority’s permission. Some port authorities have also played their part by failing to enforce the regulation.
This is not sustainable because it jeopardizes a lot of dockworkers’ jobs, Spera said.
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The unions are calling for dialogue with the authorities and concrete actions in order to deal with the issues at hand.
“In general, there is a lack of proper response from the relevant institutions and the government. This has been a problem for quite some time,“ Spera said.
The one-day strike follows two-hour nation-wide strikes staged as a sign of warning over the recent workplace safety situation in April 2018. Unions are urging for safety at ports to be upgraded after a number of workplace fatalities occurring this year.
For the time being, there are no concrete schedules for potential future strikes or union actions.
5月11日，義大利各港口的工人發起了24小時的罷工，表達了他們對義大利港口缺乏貨物固定的法律執行和安全性的不滿。
罷工由工會主席FILT CGIL，Fit Cisl和Uiltrasporti Nazionale，國際運輸工人聯合會（ITF）的分支機構以及歐洲運輸工人聯合會（ETF）的碼頭部門領導。
根據ETF Dockers政治秘書Livia Spera的說法，所有義大利港口今天都關閉。根據目前可獲得的信息，Genoa被數千人街道阻塞，而工人也在其他較小的港口聚集。Spera說，船員們已經加入罷工，因為他們也與貨物固定的碼頭工人有關係。
關於有多少船受到正在進行的停工造成的延誤影響的確切數據尚未確定。
根據 2月份ITF與聯合談判組（JNG）達成的最新國際議價論壇（IBF） 框架協議，只有碼頭工人才有專屬權利在港口進行貨物固定和其他貨物裝卸的服務。
正如Spera所解釋的，義大利立法允許國內公司進行自我處理，這基本上意味著義大利國旗的船員可以在特定情況下進行貨物固定。但在這種情況下，船公司必須獲得相關港務局的許可。
在過去六個月中，航運公司開始濫用這項權利，甚至違反法律，要求海員在未取得港務局許可的情況下進行裝卸作業。一些港口當局也因未能執行規定而發揮作用。
Spera說，這是不可持續的，因為它危害了很多碼頭工人的工作。
工會呼籲與當局進行對話並採取具體行動來處理當前的問題。
“總體而言，相關機構和政府缺乏適當的回應。這是一段時間以來的問題，“Spera說。
為期一天的罷工是根據全國的兩小時罷工行動，這是對2018年4月工作場所安全狀況的一個警告。工會正迫切的在今年發生一系列工作場所死亡事故後對港口進行安全升級。
目前，沒有指出未來可能發生的罷工或工會行動的具體時間表。
Image Courtesy: World Maritime News / Imformation Source: World Maritime News Staff
