Global Collective Bargaining on Flag of Convenience Shipping

Abstract

The most significant case of transnational union bargaining co-ordination in existence is in the maritime shipping industry. A global union association, the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), and a global employers' federation, the International Maritime Employers' Committee (IMEC), now negotiate over pay scales for seafarers on Flag of Convenience (FOC) ships. These negotiations set the pattern for pay and working conditions for a significant portion of the global seafaring work-force. The ITF brought about global wage bargaining by building and enforcing a global inter-union consensus between developed and developing countries around a uniform wage rate.