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ETF Rivercruise Campaign Adresses 4,800 crew members
4 October 2010
Starting on today, 4 October, the mobile secretariat of the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) will travel more then 6,000 km and inform approximately 4,800 river cruise workers in less than 1-month time to raise their awareness of their workers’ rights. The nautical, hotel, catering and restaurant personnel working on these vessels, often originated from outside Western Europe, are not aware of their social rights and the assistance that trade unions can provide to defend these rights. In the framework of the ETF River Cruise Campaign, the ETF secretariat will visit river cruise vessels on the Antwerp, Amsterdam, Cologne, Basel and Vienna-axis. A camper will function as a mobile river crew welfare and information centre, hosted by the ETF secretariat.
Most of the river cruise workers originate from Eastern Europe or non-European countries and are not properly informed about the social rights they enjoy when working in Europe. Since river cruise work is seasonal work and the crewmembers live and work on vessels sailing throughout Europe for 8 to 9 consecutive months, the crewmembers’ employment situation is very complex. An awareness campaign to inform the river cruise workers about their rights is therefore more than necessary.
Campaign collects information to improve working conditions
Since June 2010, local ETF affiliates are visiting river cruise vessels to hand out leaflets and questionnaires to enquire the river cruise staff about their working and living conditions and their specific welfare needs. The tour of the ETF mobile secretariat now intensifies the information campaign. “The campaign has the objective to obtain a clearer picture of the sector, to encourage cross border cooperation between national trade unions and to enable the ETF Secretariat to better defend their rights on European level”, ETF Political Secretary for Inland Waterways, Myriam Chaffart states.
The mobile secretariat will also serve as a mobile river crew welfare centre and crewmembers will be offered access to internet to contact their family and friends at home. The River Cruise Campaign tour will start in Rudesheim, Germany on 4 October and will pass Cologne, Amsterdam, Vienna, Passau, Basel and Konigswinter. On 29 October the trip will end in Passau. A journal of the tour will be published on the ETF website.
For further information, please contact Myriam Chaffart (Tel: +32 (0)475 34 36 51; m.chaffart@etf-europe.org.
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