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Union wins recognition at English Channel ferry operator in precedent-setting ruling
22 July 2005
A maritime union has won a three-year battle for recognition rights for members employed at a cross-Channel ferry operator, which sails from the British ports of Dover and Newhaven.
ITF-affiliated National Union of Marine, Aviation and Shipping Transport Officers (NUMAST) won the victory in a precedent-setting judgement delivered by the UK-based Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) on 5 July. This upheld the union’s application for collective bargaining rights for certified merchant navy officers working on Hoverspeed vessels sailing from UK ports.
The company, part of the multinational shipping and transport organisation the US-owned Sea Containers, had consistently resisted NUMAST’s requests for recognition and had maintained that it had already entered into an agreement with Italian unions. It also claimed not to be the officers’ employer, stating they were employed on an offshore arrangement with a Channel Islands company. The CAC’s judgement refuted this claim.
NUMAST Assistant General Secretary Mark Dickinson welcomed the ruling. “This is a huge and historic victory for us, and delivers critical safeguards for the employment rights of British seafarers.”
“The CAC has sided with NUMAST on all counts,” he added. “The employer is Hoverspeed Limited for the purposes of the legislation on recognition; the Italian collective agreement is not in force for the officers employed on the company’s Italian registered ferries; and NUMAST has the required membership and support for recognition within the workforce.”
NUMAST is currently working with the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service to assist with discussions on an agreement on the bargaining unit.
Earlier this year, the ITF called on affiliates to show solidarity with NUMAST by contacting Hoverspeed, emphasising that freedom of association and the right to organise for collective bargaining are fundamental human and trade union rights and, as such, non-negotiable.
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