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Fishers in Madagascar are being underpaid by European companies. Now one union is fighting back, with ITF and ETF support, writes Marianne Powell

The island of Madagascar sits off the coast of Mozambique, some 5000 miles from the European Commission in Brussels. But decisions taken at the European level are having a disastrous effect on the lives and livelihood of its fishers. Now, one union has decided enough is enough.

In brief Fishers in Madagascar receive low salaries when they work on European vessels. Ship owners pay ILO wages, but don’t take overtime and other elements into account, leaving a shortfall of $400 dollars a month. Despite a ‘social clause’, which should benefit local workers, fishers are still being underpaid on European vessels. Fishers also receive very low compensation in the event of accident or injury. A maritime union in Madagascar is fighting back, with the help of the ETF.

Trade union Syndicat General Maritime de Madagascar (Sygmma) has a membership of almost 1500 fishers and seafarers. Together with the ITF and ETF, it is demanding better pay for workers on European fishing vessels.

Cash to fish

Many European boats fish in the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) region. The European Commission negotiates the fishing partnership agreements with individual countries: in return for fishing rights, the commission gives money to the government.

This should provide the best of both worlds: European vessels are allowed access to fish, with guidelines to guard sustainability and make sure local fishers don’t lose out. African countries receive significant amounts of money, which should be used by the government to promote a responsible fisheries sector, and improve standards for fishing communities.

But the fishers themselves are losing out, as European companies are refusing to pay a fair salary for the work.

Protection for fishers

Since 2001, fishing partnership agreements between European companies and ACP countries have had to include a social clause. In theory, this clause provides minimum standards on pay and conditions for local workers. In reality, the exact interpretation of the clause has become a contentious debate.

Sygmma welcomed an updated fishing partnership agreement for Madagascar, including a social clause, in 2004. Among other things, it stated that the standards applied to fishing workers should not fall below standards set by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

But it soon became clear that despite the existence of ILO minimum wage provisions, fishers were receiving the same pay as before.

Employers have been using the minimum basic wage as a guideline to pay the fishers. But unions are arguing that the salary only covers a basic working week of 48 hours.

Work in the fishing sector normally requires substantial overtime work, with total weekly working hours of around 104 hours. The minimum basic wage does not include elements such as overtime, catching premiums or paid holidays.

According to calculations based on the ITF/International Shipping Federation interpretation of the ILO recommended minimum wage for an able seaman, fishers should be receiving US$945.00 a month. But they are actually being paid just $530, a shortfall of more than $400, and equivalent to just $5 an hour in real terms.

Flemming Smidt is vice chair of the social dialogue committee for sea fisheries. In a letter to the directorate-general for maritime affairs and fisheries at the European Commission he points out, “the fact that Malagasy fishermen are not being paid overtime leads to discrimination and to an infringement of the principle of equal treatment when European fishermen are normally paid overtime.”

The end result is inadequate pay for fishers who have to work in extremely challenging conditions.

Campaigning for change

Lucien Razafindraibe is Sygmma’s general secretary. He has led the campaign for better salaries to be paid to his members since 2005. Although 80 per cent of Malagasy fishers onboard European-owned vessels are members of Sygmma, he says the companies have refused to negotiate with the union. Without a collective bargaining agreement in place, the union has been forced to take the battle to Europe. 

The European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) has been working with Sygmma to campaign at the European level for improved salary, backdated to 2004 (when the new agreement was signed).

The problem also extends beyond Madagascar, ­says Philippe Alfonso political secretary for maritime transport, docks and fisheries at the ETF. He says it’s hard to judge just how bad it could be in other ACP countries.

 “Where unions are strong and have good connections, the situation is not so bad,” he says. “But in countries where there are no unions, where fishers don’t know their rights, workers can be exploited.”

For the ITF and the ETF, European fishing vessels must respect the local communities where they work.

The social clause included in those fishing agreements, was a major step towards the recognition of local fisher’s rights and of the real value of their work, but proved not to be fully effective.

That is why the ETF and the ITF want the legal value of this clause to be better defined and strengthened, so as to make the respect of workers’ rights an obligatory condition for the concession of fishing rights in third countries.

The battle for improved pay is ongoing. Union Sygmma is keen to improve the situation for all fishers in the region.

“At the regional level in Africa, we’re trying to stand together against this situation where workers are treated as simple ‘materials’ to get money for the ship owners,” says Razafindraibe.

How much is the life of a fisher worth? When seafarer Marc Hugues was injured on board the Playa de Bakio in 2006, he didn’t realise how serious it was. The 36-year-old fractured his right femur, while the ship was in the Seychelles area. Hugues was repatriated two weeks after the accident, and hospitalised there. A week later he returned home. In November 2006, five months after the accident, he was re-examined. The doctor discovered he had gangrene in his right foot. It was too late to be treated effectively, and he died a month later. Hugues’ family received just 400 Euros in compensation. Working conditions for fishers are often difficult and dangerous. The situation is made worse when ship owners take out little or no insurance, leading to low rates of compensation. Sygmma is planning to campaign at the national level for more safeguards to be put in place. If seafarers face injury or death, their families should receive a decent level of compensation.