REVISTA MARITIMA AVILA GROUP - 10 ANIVERSARIO MARITIMA AVILA GROUP-Web (1) | Page 13

AGREEMENTS
13
10 años • 10 years
1) En cuanto a la Norma A.2.5.2 – Garantía
financiera : el armador debe contratar la
constitución de un sistema de garantía financiera
rápido y eficaz para asistir a la gente de mar en
caso de abandono. Se debe considerar que un
marino ha sido abandonado cuando, en violación
de los requisitos del presente Convenio o de las
condiciones del acuerdo de empleo de la gente
de mar, el armador: a) No cubra la repatriación
del tripulante; b) haya dejado a la gente de mar
sin la manutención y el apoyo necesarios; o c) no
sufrague el costo de la repatriación de la gente
de mar de algún modo haya roto unilateralmente
sus vínculos con la gente de mar e incluso no
haya pagado los salarios contractuales como
mínimo durante un período de dos meses.
2) En cuanto a la Norma A.4.2.- Responsabilidad
del armador : La legislación nacional deberá
prever que el sistema de garantía financiera
destinado a asegurar que el pago de la
indemnización prevista de la presente norma
resultante de reclamaciones contractuales,
definidas en la norma A4.2.2 cumpla con
los siguientes requisitos mínimos: a) la
indemnización contractual, cuando está prevista
en el acuerdo de empleo de la gente de mar y sin
perjuicio de lo dispuesto en el apartado “c)” del
presente párrafo, se deberá pagar en su totalidad
y sin demora; b) no deberán ejercerse presiones
para la aceptación de un pago inferior a la suma
contractual; c) cuando las características de la
discapacidad prolongada de un marino dificulten
evaluar la indemnización total a la que puede
tener derecho, se deberán efectuar un pago
o varios pagos provisionales para evitar que
se encuentre en una situación de precariedad
indebida; d) de conformidad con la regla 4.2,
párrafo 2, la gente de mar deberá recibir el pago
sin perjuicio de otros derechos legales, pero el
armador podrá deducir dicho pago de cualquier
otra indemnización resultante de cualquier otra
reclamación presentada por la gente de mar
contra el armador y relacionada con el mismo
incidente; y e) toda reclamación contractual de
indemnización podrá presentarla directamente
la gente de mar interesada, o su pariente más
cercano, un representante de la gente de mar o
un beneficiario designado.
Adicionalmente se añaden dos nuevos
anexos al Convenio en cuanto a: Pruebas
de garantía financiera en virtud de la
regla 4.2 y Modelo de finiquito y de recibo
liberatorio . Estas enmiendas afectan también
a las Declaración de Conformidad Laboral
Marítima – DMLC-Parte I y DMLC-Parte II. En
ambas declaraciones se añade al final el punto
16) Garantía financiera relacionada con la
responsabilidad del armador (regla 4.2) . u
THE MLC-2006 CONVENTION AND ITS AMENDMENTS
By Rafael Hernández Oropeza, Person on Earth – Marítima Avila Group
Designated Person on Earth (PDT for its acronym in Spanish) MARITIMA AVILA GROUP
W
ithin 10 years of existence of Marítima Avila Group, one of
the relevant aspects has been the implementation of the
MLC-2006 agreement in the company’s safety management
system, in order to comply with the guidelines established by this
standard. Following the ratifications of the agreement submitted by 30
ILO member states (59.85% of the gross tonnage of the world fleet) in
August 2012, the agreement entered into force within the following 12
months, which was completed on August the 20th of 2013.
The Maritime Labor Convention 2006 (MLC-2006) was adopted
on 23 February 2006 at the General Conference of the International
Labor Organization. The main mandate of the ILO is to promote
opportunities for men and women to obtain decent work in
conditions of freedom, equality, security and human dignity. The
purpose of the Convention, therefore, as regards to work on board
ships, is to ensure the decent working and living conditions of
seafarers, going far beyond regulating only what concerns wages
in the sea.
For the International Labor Organization, the promotion
of social and economic progress is understood as cooperation
between governments and workers ‘and employers’ organizers.
It is therefore the only agency of the United Nations whose
representatives are precisely the representatives of governments,
employers and workers. This structure is known as a tripartite
structure, since the “social partners” (employees’ and workers’
representatives) are equally involved with governments,
guaranteeing the response to the needs of workers through the
social partners’ opinions that are reflected in labor standards,
policies, etc.
In the first part of the Convention a completely theoretical
introduction is followed by the definition of concepts, their
implementation and the bodies responsible for carrying out
the inspections. A second part, which establishes the conditions
required by the Maritime Labor Convention. Lastly, a third part of
the fieldwork will deal with how the ship-owners should make the
request to obtain the Certificates related to the MLC 2006 for each
of their ships and also establish the methodology that will follow
and the documentation to be made available on board when the
different verification bodies carry out the inspection.
Implementation of the Convention requires commercial vessels
of equal or greater
exceeding 500 URB, governed by its provisions, shall, if they
undertake international travel,
carry on board, inter alia, two specific documents: a Maritime
Work Certificate (CTM for its acronym in Spanish) and a Declaration
of Maritime Labor Conformity (DCLM for its acronym in Spanish) that
offer “prima facie” evidence (at first sight) that ships comply with
the requirements of the Convention.
The Convention lays down in a single instrument the right
of seafarers to decent working conditions in almost all aspects of
their working and living environment, including, but not limited
to, minimum age, working arrangements, payment of wages,
paid annual leave, repatriation at term of contract, medical care
on board, use of private contracting and placement services,
accommodation, food and catering, safety and security health and
accident prevention, and the procedures for handling complaints
from seafarers.
Marítima Avila Group, within its Safety Management System,
maintains the Manual of Seafarers, where are the procedures to
fulfill the seafarers rights, st ated in the previous paragraph, listed
in the Declaration of Labor Conformity Required by each Ship
Administration. This Manual has been subject to document changes,
affected by the new amendments made by the International Labor
Conference, which are described below.
Amendments to the Code to implement Rules 2.5 and 4.2
and Annexes to the Maritime Labor Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006)
adopted by the Special Tripartite Committee on April 11th, 2014.
The amendments establish requirements for the introduction of
a system of a fast and efficient financial guarantee which, in the
case of abandonment, shall assist seafarers who are employed or
hired or work in any position on board a ship flying the flag of
the Member concerned. This system will cover salary arrears and
other entitlements up to a period of four months, repatriation
expenses, necessary maintenance (clothing, adequate food and
accommodation), necessary medical care and other reasonable
costs or burdens arising from abandonment.
1) Regarding Standard A.2.5.2 - Financial guarantee:
the shipowner must contract the constitution of a system of
fast and effective financial guarantee to assist the seafarer in
case of abandonment. A seafarer must be considered to have
been abandoned when, in violation of the requirements of this
Convention or the conditions of the seafarers’ employment
agreement, the shipowner: (a) does not cover the repatriation of
the crew member; (b) has left seafarers without the necessary
support and support; or (c) fails to meet the cost of repatriation
of seafarers in some way unilaterally broke their links with
seafarers and has not even paid contractual wages for at least a
two-month period.
2) With regard to Standard A.4.2.- Shipowner’s
responsibility: National legislation should provide that the system
of financial guarantee intended to ensure that the payment of
the compensation provided for in this standard resulting from
contractual claims, as defined in standard A4. 2.2 meets the
following minimum requirements: a) contractual compensation,
when provided for in the seafarers’ employment agreement
and without prejudice to the provisions of section “c)” of this
paragraph, must be paid in full and without delay; (b) no
pressure shall be exerted for the acceptance of a payment less
than the contractual sum; (c) where the characteristics of the
prolonged disability of a seafarer make it difficult to assess the
total compensation to which he may be entitled, a payment or
several interim payments should be made to prevent him from
being in a situation of undue precariousness; (d) in accordance
with regulation 4.2, paragraph 2, seafarers shall receive payment
without prejudice to other legal rights, but the shipowner
may deduct such payment from any other indemnity resulting
from any other claim made by seafarers against the owner
and related to the same incident; and (e) any contractual claim
for compensation may be submitted directly by the seafarer
concerned, or his / her closest relative, a seafarer representative
or a designated beneficiary.
In addition, two new annexes to the Convention are added
in respect of: Financial security testing under rule 4.2 and Model
of settlement and release. These amendments also affect the
Declaration of Maritime Labor Conformity - DMLC-Part I and DMLC-
Part II. In both declarations, point 16 is added at the end. Financial
guarantee related to the ship owner’s liability (rule 4.2). u