Page 19 - Annual Review 2020

ii. Alternatively, an individual shipowner may en- ter into an agreement with the seafarers serving on board their vessels for which SEA could be signed with the individual seafarer. However, in this case, the shipowner would be required to pay minimum ILO wages which is a basic of US$ 715 per month.
iii. The CBA or SEA shall be in accordance with the guidelines as laid down in the MLC 2006.
iv. Considering the principle of free collective bar- gaining system, the wages as determined in the CBA will prevail sector wise like for Foreign going and Coastal.
v. Under the CBA, shipping companies would only be required to contribute towards two funds namely; Seafarers Welfare Fund Society (SWFS) and Seafarers Provident Fund Organi- sation (SPFO).
The terms and conditions of this notice were pro- mulgated from 24-04-2020.
INSA/NMB Agreement 2019-2023
The current INSA/NMB Agreement 2015-2019 ex- pired on 31-03-2019. The commencement of nego- tiation of 2019-2023 NMB agreement could not be undertaken earlier, firstly due to delay in publica- tion of national guidelines for employment of Indi- an seafarers on Indian ships and secondly due to Covid-19 pandemic resulting in lockdown imposed by the government.
On account of unprecedented delays due to above reasons, it was decided to commence NMB wage negotiations on an electronic web-based platform.
Thus, the NMB negotiations for wage revision for the period 2019-2023 with the seafarers unions commenced on 23-09-2020 on a web platform. The meetings for negotiations are progressing and healthy progress has been achieved by both sides in this respect.
INSA MUI Agreement 2015-2019
The current INSA-MUI Agreement 2015-2019 has expired on 31-3-2019. The commencement of fresh negotiations for 2019-2023 agreement could not commence even after publication of MS Notice No7 dated 24-04-2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown.
In the meanwhile, till the next agreement 2019-2023 is negotiated and finalized, the current INSA MUI Agreement 2015-2019 will continue to remain in force.
Annual Review 2020
Trainee Employment Agreement
The Indian Labour Rules 2016 published by the Government of India, governing seafarers service conditions on board Indian flag vessels, in line with MLC 2006 specifies that any person who is employed or engaged or works in any capacity on board a ship, is a seafarer and the service condi- tions specified in the Labor Rules/MLC are appli- cable to all persons employed on board a vessel.
Since all trainees on board are now considered to be seafarers, thus in compliance with MLC 2006, a Trainee Employment Agreement has been formulat- ed, covering all service conditions under MLC. The trainees are exempted by the Directorate from any contributions towards provident fund or any other funds as well as from the benefit of social security.
The above Trainee Agreement is now being updat- ed in line with the provisions of the national guide- lines for employment of Indian seafarers on board Indian flag vessels as published by the Directorate vide MS Notice 7 of 2020 dated 24-04-2020.
When the Trainee Employment Agreement comes into force, it would replace indentures and stream- line the service conditions of the trainees on board Indian vessels.
Maritime Education & Survey –
Report on training practices in India
Maritime Training Trust (MTT) of the Government of India has proposed to carry out a survey on the “Life of Indian Seafarers” and “Life of students pursuing Maritime Training in India”. A team of members from the institutes of INSA companies, namely, To- lani Maritime Institute (TMI), Great Eastern Institute of Maritime Studies (GEIMS) and Maritime Training Institute (MTI) have been nominated to conduct this project under the guidance of MTT and INSA.
The Board of Trustees of MTT at a meeting held on 27.06.2019 approved a proposal of a consor- tium consisting of MTI, SCI, GEIMS and TMI, led by INSA for undertaking survey of MarTID (which is re- named as Navik Jeevan) in India under the overall charge of Dr. B. K. Saxena (consortium)
Institution of ‘INSA Prize’ for select- ed technical papers from students of maritime training institutes
The research and training committee of INSA had suggested introduction of the above prize. The committee members were of the view that the stu- dents of the maritime training institutes should be encouraged to conduct “research” and be encour- aged to write technical papers.
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