History of ITF activities

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1994

The ITF adopts a resolution at its 37th Congress titled “Securing of Loads”. It deals with the safe storage of goods in and on cargo carriers of all kinds that are transported on ships and trucks as well as rail cars.

1995-1996

The issue is discussed at ITF Road Transport Workers’ Section meetings (at the Section Committee Meeting in Stockholm in December 1995 and at the Section Conference in Paris in September 1996).

At the Section Committee meeting in 1995, Svenska Transportarebetareförbundet gives a presentation on securing of goods and informs the meeting that the Swedish Transport Research Commission (TFK) had prepared a handbook titled “Loading and Securing Cargo on Load Carriers – Advice and instructions” in 1990. The meeting adopts a resolution on the securing of goods.

The Section Conference in 1996 discusses the ECE Working Party on Combined Transport’s “Guidelines for Packing Cargo in Freight Containers of Vehicles”

2002

The issue is discussed at the ITF Dockers’ Section Conference during the ITF 40th Congress in Vancouver.

2004

The ITF Road Transport Workers' Section revisits the subject, at the request of a Japanese affiliate that represents dockers and road haulage workers. A request for information on security of container cargo is circulated by email in March. The union obtains relevant information, through the ITF, from unions in Canada, New Zealand, USA as well as the ETF.

The issue is included as an agenda item at the ITF Road Transport Workers' Section Conference in Berlin in June. A report on major problems concerning transport of containers by road in Japan by affiliate ZENKOKU-KOWAN, as well as the summary of the responses obtained from organisations to the request for information sent out by email in March are circulated at the meeting as a basis for discussion. Delegates from Sweden, Germany, Australia, USA, India, Honduras, Spain, as well as the secretariat members of the ITF take part in the debate during the meeting.

The ITF Dockers’ Section further discusses this issue at their Conference in July.

The ITF General Secretary sends an official request to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on 27 July 2004 to take legal and other measures to increase safety for container trailer truck drivers. (At the time it is not required for companies to inform drivers of the contents of containers, or how they are stored, which consequently leads to hazardous accidents, and the drivers are often held responsible for them).

The ITF Asia/Pacific Road Transport Section Committee Meeting held in Jakarta on 3-4 September discusses securing of loads as part of its agenda.

2005

A short questionnaire is circulated to members of the ITF Road Transport Workers' Section in March asking for information on the problems concerning the transport of containers by road. Road transport unions from Belgium, Denmark, Pakistan, Congo DR, Mauritius and Hungary reply to the questionnaire. In consultation with the ITF Dockers’ Section, the same questionnaire is distributed to the ITF’s port workers’ unions.

A seminar on safe transportation of containers by road is held in Tokyo on 27-29 July 2005.

2006

The ITF Road Transport Workers' Steering Committee meeting held in Åkersberga (Sweden) in May hears a report that some progress has been made on the container cargo transportation safety issue in Japan as the Japanese government has drafted a set of guidelines on the issue. It is, however, not legally binding and therefore a request for further pressure from the ITF on this issue is made. On 24 May, the Steering Committee meeting visits a vocational training facility for an activity on safe transportation of containers by road.

The ITF Road Transport Workers' Section and the ITF Dockers' Section Conferences discuss container cargo safety during the ITF 41st Congress held in Durban in August.

2007

The ITF Road Transport Workers' Section Steering Committee meeting held in London on 26-28 March discusses container cargo safety as part of its agenda.

Representatives from road transport and dockers’ unions in Japan, Canada, Australia, UK, Sweden and the US attend an ITF Container Cargo Safety Seminar held in Oakland on 30-31 May. The meeting, hosted by US affiliate, the Teamsters discusses issues relating to container cargo safety. Mac Urata represents the ITF. The meeting agrees to share information on the issue; lobby international organizations; and carry out awareness raising programmes during ITF International Road Transport Action Week in October. It is agreed that the ITF Road Transport Workers’ Section will continue to coordinate its activities on this issue with the ITF Dockers’ Section.

The matter is also discussed at the ITF Road Transport Section's Annual Meeting in June with the ILO representative.

During the ITF International Road Transport Action Week in October, activists are organised by unions in Great Britain and the US/Canada to highlight this issue. Activists from the T&G Section of UNITE hand out leaflets on container cargo safety to over 300 drivers at the Southampton container terminal. The information leaflets, which highlight awareness of heavy loads, also draw attention to the risk of overloading. This activity followed a spate of accidents where container trucks had turned over. Representatives from the Teamsters and ILWU locals in the US and Canada distribute leaflets with the message "Better Pay - Safer Trucks - Cleaner Air - Booming Ports - Go Union!" and speak to drivers as they cross the US/Canadian truck border crossing in Blaine, Washington. The message of organising to raise standards receives a positive response.

2008

At the ITF Dockers' Section Committee meeting held in June, Japanese union ZENKOKU-KOWAN highlights problems in Japan regarding accidents where containers had exploded, where containers were too heavy and had fallen from the gantry crane and problems relating to loading. These accidents were not the fault of the dockworkers but of the lack of regulation and international enforced standards.

Container cargo safety is discussed at the ITF Road Transport Section Conference in June with the ILO representative including the possible development of an integrated tripartitie approach on container handling safety with a focus on road transport and port sectors. The meeting agress to designate a small group of truckers' and dockers' unions to meet with the ILO Sector Specialist on this issue.

2009

At the ITF Dockers' Section Committee Meeting held in March, the issue is discussed. A proposal is made by the Secretariat for a two-day global dialogue forum to be held in early 2011 on container safety in the supply chain and packing and the application of appropriate practices.

The joint Seafarers and Dockers Health & Safety Working Group held in August discusses issues relating to container safety, including ships emissions in ports; entry and working in confined spaces, including ventilation of holds; container safety including fumigation, weight issues, stuffing and stripping, lashing and securing of cargo in CTUs, lashing and securing of containers on board and the safe access to lash CTUs; IMDG, marking and handling of dangerous cargo.

In August, the ITF circulates a request to ITF road transport and docker contacts on container cargo safety for information on union actions, initiatives and campaigns around this issue in response to a request received from a Japanese journalist who had been carefully following the issues related to container cargo safety on road and whose articles had helped the campaign by ITF-affiliate ZENKOKU-KOWAN.

At the ITF Road Transport Workers' Section Conference in September, FNV Bondgenoten, Netherlands informs the meeting about an FNV campaign to raise awareness on the effects and associated risks of fumigation in containers, which affects all workers in the transport chain including drivers and warehouse workers. An FNV film on this issue is shown to the meeting.

The Road Transport Section Conference also agrees to establish a high-level joint working group with the ITF Dockers' Section and a separate working group within the Road Transport Section on inland terminal warehouse workers.

At the Dockers' Section Meeting held in November, a report is given on ILO activities on container safety in the supply chain in relation to the packing of containers and the application of appropriate practices. A motion submitted by ZENKOKU-KOWAN on container cargo safety is endorsed by the meeting. The motion resolves to urgently set-up a working group within the ITF for establishing international safety standards for container cargo transportation (made up of representatives of the related ITF sections such as Road Transport, Dockers and Seafarers).

2010

In February, the ITF Secretariat attends a joint BTB (Belgium) - FNV Bondgenoten (Netherlands) seminar on container cargo safety in Brussels.

The cross-sectional working group of ITF affiliates in the road transport, railway, dockers’ and seafarers’ sections meets for the first time in London on 29-30 June. The meeting reviews the ITF activities that have already taken place on container safety – this includes issues which so far have been raised by the different sections (including fumigation, security, lashing, stowage, container size/weight) as well as safety campaigns and new legislation – and also considers preparations for the planned ILO Global Dialogue Forum on Safety in the Supply Chain in relation to Packing of Containers in February 2011.

On 15-16 December, a second working group meeting of ITF affiliates in the road transport, railway, dockers’ and seafarers’ sections is held in Tokyo. The focus of this meeting is on preparations for the planned ILO Global Dialogue Forum in February 2011.

The working group reaches the conclusion that the voluntary measures in place and the best practices approach have not solved the problem in a satisfactory way. The working group drafts the following statement that expresses the position of the participating unions:

The ITF Container Working Group meeting held in Tokyo, Japan on 15 and 16 December 2010:

Recognises the work that has been done in preparation for the ILO Global Dialogue Forum on Safety in the Supply Chain in relation to the packing of containers.
Recommends that international mandatory instruments be developed that guarantee that all those involved in the transport and handling of containers are fully informed of the actual weight, state of packing, stowage, lashing and securing of the cargo including the eccentricity of the centre of gravity (CG) of the loaded container and the possible existence of toxic fumigants and vapours or existence of dangerous substances in the container.

2011

The ITF and ETF Dockers' Sections send a joint letter to the Director for Maritime Transport in the European Commission in February to raise their concerns over container safety and to request a meeting to exchange views on the issues.

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Transports par route

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A propos de la Section | Buses and Coaches | Taxi Working Group | Les femmes dans le transport routier | Fatigue and Road Safety

Autres pages pour Container Cargo Safety:
ILO Global Dialogue Forum, 2011 | ITF Unions Raise Awareness, 2011 | Image Library | Resources | Useful Links

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