The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) is reporting that workers on board an Indian offshore vessel “have benefited from a massive payout, after union pressure ended a lengthy battle over the non-implementation of a tribunal award.”The federation on Jan. 20 issued a news release that states, “Reports by crew members on board the Indian national flag, the Malaviya 5, about non-payment of arrears owed to them for six years reached the Indian ITF-affiliated National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI) in November last year.
“The nine seafarers’ claim dated back to a tribunal win in 1999, during which an Indian high court set wages and interim relief payment for ratings and petty officers on board offshore and home trade ships. The shipowner of the Malaviya 5, Great Eastern, consistently failed to make the payments in line with the court ruling.
“Thanks to a successful lobby of a number of bodies by NUSI, including the Indian National Shipowners’ Association – among the petitioners in the writ that led to the court ruling – and of the vessel’s manning agent, the company had no option but to concede. The crew has now received more than Rs21 lakhs (US$48,000) in backdated pay.
“In a letter to NUSI General Secretary Abdulgani Serang, the crew praised the union for its ‘spontaneous support’ and stated, ‘We were overwhelmed that some prosperity should benefit our welfare.’”
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