CHENNAI: The issue of wages for seafarers, which was hanging fire for the past two years, took a dramatic turn at the end of the negotiations after one of the prominent unions refused to sign the agreement initiated by National Maritime Board.After much wrangling in Bombay High Court, NMB brought in a comprehensive industry-wide wage agreement for the Petty Officers & Ratings working on Indian flagships on Foreign Going (FG), Offshore Supply Vessels (OSV) and Home Trade ships (HT) during a negotiation held in Mumbai about a week ago. Only National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI) signed the agreement but Forward Seamen’s Union of India (FSUI) refused citing it as a raw deal.With the FSUI walked out, the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) was forced to go to court. After hearing the SCI’s petition, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the Centre to set up a tribunal to look into the seafarers wage agreement concluded on February 24 within eight weeks.
Comments
0 comment