Trade Union, Seafarer

An organized labor association representing seafarers in collective bargaining over wages, hours, manning, and conditions. The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) coordinates affiliated maritime unions worldwide and runs the flag-of-convenience campaign and the ITF Standard collective agreement. National examples include Nautilus International (UK, Netherlands, Switzerland) and the RMT in the UK. The legal floor for terms sits in the Maritime Labour Convention 2006, which recognizes the right to collective bargaining and freedom of association under ILO Conventions Nos. 87 and 98.