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Joint Statement by Social Alert and IYCW

Committee on the Fishing Sector

For a number of years now, Social Alert and the International Young Christian Workers have been jointly campaigning for the cause of informal economy workers, in particular for their access to social protection. The provision of a set of rights to fishermen through the standard-setting work of this Committee is certainly welcomed by us. But this must be done in such a way that the rights granted are clear both in content and in form; and the rights must be granted to all workers, including informal workers, in the fishing sector. Therefore, we would like to make the following suggestions to the members of the Committee.

As regards the content of the rights enshrined in the proposed Convention, we think that for those issues where common ground is not yet reached, the Committee should take account of existing standards rather than developing new criteria. In order to give some examples, we could briefly refer to:

• The issue of the minimum age: with respect to the minimum age for employment, the ILO Minimum Age Convention N° 138 sets the internationally accepted standard and as a result the Convention and Recommendation under consideration must be consistent with its provisions.
• The issue of hours of rest: there should be no question of reducing the hours of rest under Article 14 §1(b), given that these correspond to the standard set by the Maritime Labour Convention 2006.
• The issue of medical examination: fishing is physically demanding and medical fitness standards are of the utmost importance. The proposed Convention should retain this obligation, which is consistent with the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 as well as the ILO/WHO Guidelines for Conducting Pre-sea and Periodic Medical Fitness Examinations of 1997.
• The issue of fishing vessel accommodation: with the specific provisions for accommodation being subject to discussion, it should be noted that they are to a large extent in line with the ILO Accommodation of Crews Convention N°126 and the FAO/ILO/IMO Code of Safety for Fishermen and Fishing Vessels.

The second suggestion concerns the scope of application of the proposed Convention. What triggers the application of the Convention is the fact that a vessel is 24 metres in length and over, whereas many fishermen in developing countries work unprotected, informally on smaller vessels. To ensure that the rights enshrined in the proposed Convention are also effectively implemented to their benefit, the wording of Article 2 §3 should be strengthened. As a general principle, Member States must be urged to extend the protection provided in the Convention to fishers working on smaller vessels progressively. Progressive implementation though must be meaningful: therefore, it should be required that Member States, in consultation with the social partners, draw up a timeline spelling out when and which steps will be taken to bring these smaller vessels within the scope of application of the Convention. Such a time frame is equally important for certain specific provisions of the proposed Convention. Member States should progressively put in place social security schemes for all workers, irrespective of the size of the vessel, if the objective is the creation of decent work in the fishing sector. To this end, national policies should be consistent with the requirements of the ILO Social Security Convention N°102; at the same time, the implementation of such policies must respect a time frame if this obligation is to have practical relevance.

On behalf of Social Alert and the International Young Christian Workers, we sincerely hope that the constituents will consider the suggestions made and thank you very much for your attention.

Bart Verstraeten Social Alert International

Thiruvalluvar Yovel President of the IYCW