This was conveyed by the Indonesian Minister of Manpower, Hanif Dhakiri, after the MLC amendment ratification process, which took place on the sidelines of the 106th International Labor Conference (ILC) session in Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday (June 5).
"With this MLC amendment, the employment agreement between seafarers and ship owners does not stop or cannot be terminated when the seafarers are being held hostage by pirates. As a result, seafarers` wages and other financial rights, which have been set forth in the agreement, should be paid," Dhakiri said in a written statement received by ANTARA here on Monday.
He added that in the MLC amendment, the governments of countries that have ratified the MLC are granted relief from administrative problems to be able to flexibly implement the amendments in accordance with their respective national regulations.
The minister explained that the MLC amendment also contains repatriation guarantees for seafarers who are victims of pirate hostage or crimes at sea.
However, such repatriation rights will be lost if the seafarers do not file a claim within a specified time set forth in the national legislation or the Collective Labor Agreement.
"Although so far the number of Indonesian seafarers who have become victims of pirate hostage is relatively small, the MLC amendment is very important considering Indonesia as one of the largest seafarer providers in the world," he explained.
So far, the MLC repatriation mechanism is limited to normal repatriation and not in the situation when seafarers are being held hostage by pirates.
"The MLC amendment is a proposal of seafarers groups and the results of trilateral negotiation, which consists of the governments of countries that have ratified the MLC, including Indonesia, with seafarers and ship owners representatives of the Special Tripartite Committee (STC) MLC held at the ILO Office in Geneva, Switzerland, from April 23 to 27, 2018," he elaborated.
The elements in the amendment are the result of the three parties` compromise to ensure that the amendment does not acquire additional burdens for ship owners and the government," Ambassador Hasan Kleib, the Permanent Representative of Indonesia to the UN, WTO and other International Organizations in Geneva, explained.
So far, MLC has been amended twice. The MLC Amendment in 2014 provided financial security for abandoned seafarers as well as compensation for sailors who die and suffer from long-term disabilities due to illness, injury, and accidents.
Meanwhile, the MLC amendment in 2016 regulated the protection of health and safety of seafarers as well as the prevention of accidents to eliminate harassment and bullying on ships.
Indonesia has ratified the MLC through the Law no.15 of 2016, which was ratified by President Joko Widodo on October 6, 2016. The Minister of Manpower will officially submit the instrument of MLC ratification to the Director General of the International Labor Organization on June 12, 2017.
(KR-LWA/INE)
(T.SYS/A/KR-BSR/A014)
Reporter: antara
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
