WHAT IS IBF (INTERNATIONAL BARGAINING FORUM)

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About the IBF

The International Bargaining Forum (IBF) is the forum that brings together the ITF and the international maritime employers that make up the Joint Negotiating Group (JNG).

Background
In 1999, the ITF began to negotiate with the International Maritime Employers’ Committee (IMEC), a group of ship owners and managers from around the world. Soon afterwards, another group of ship owners, the International Mariners Management Association of Japan (IMMAJ), also entered into dialogue with the ITF. Together, IMEC and IMMAJ form the Joint Negotiating Group (JNG). The JNG was formally established in 2003. It has since expanded to include the Korean Shipowners’ Association (KSA).

When the ITF gets together to negotiate with the JNG, the resulting group is called the International Bargaining Forum (IBF). The IBF has objectives and rules of procedure. IBF negotiations are separate from the discussions about the ITF benchmark and other ITF agreements.

How does the IBF operate?
Negotiations take place every two years for the IBF framework agreement. Once the framework agreement has been negotiated, ITF affiliated unions begin local negotiations with companies in their country. These local negotiations result in national and sometimes company level IBF agreements. While the entitlements may vary slightly, all IBF agreements must be within the IBF framework agreed for the period.

IBF agreements are only available to shipping companies that are members of the JNG and can only be signed by ITF affiliated unions.

The IBF has a disputes procedure to deal with any problems, for example regarding compliance with or interpretation of the agreements.

Entitlements
The IBF framework agreement incorporates three main elements: social, professional and financial.

• Social elements deal with seafarers’ quality of life, including leave, access to telephone and email, duration of employment and medical cover for families.
• Professional elements include sickness and injury pay, compensation, savings or provident funds, provisions for service in war zones, re-engagement after pregnancy, protection for abandoned seafarers, training, security and safe manning scales.
• Financial elements include pay, employment stability, union development and access for ITF representatives to vessels.

These are some of the current features of the IBF agreement:

• Company must pay all fees and visa costs prior to employment.
• Protection for seafarers who respect dockworkers’ trade disputes, provided they are lawful.
• In the event of death, company must pay burial costs.
• Rest periods redefined in line with the ILO.
• Riding gangs/temporary workers have more rights on board.

WHAT IS CBA (COLLE CTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT)

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Written, legally enforceable contract for a specified period (usually one year), between the management of an organization and its employees represented by an independent trade union. It sets down and defines conditions of employment (wages, working hours and conditions, overtime payments, holidays, vacations, benefits, etc.) and procedures for dispute resolution. Also called labor agreement, union agreement, or union contract.
 A Collective Bargaining Agreement should, as a minimum, contain the following subjects/articles: Discrimination, Hiring Partners, expenses related to employement and travelling, medical certificates, length of contract, termination, hours of work and rest, wages and overtime, insurance coverage, medical treatment, sick wages, public holidays, maternity, accommodation, food, work in war zones, health and safety, dispute resolution and annual leave. The list is not exhaustive, there are additional issues in the CBA, but we have listed some of the most important ones.

MARINESHELF publishes articles contributed by seafarers and other marine related sites solely for the benefit of seafarers .All copyright materials are owned by its respective authors or publishers.

ITF Agreements

ITF Agreements are only those that are approved by the ITF.

ITF Agreements only apply to ships flying a Flag of Convenience (FOC)*.

ITF Agreements are signed by a maritime union and shipping company, either the beneficial owner or the operator or the manager of the ship. The union must be affiliated to the ITF.

The signatory union is normally from the country where the beneficial shipping companyof the ship is based. Often, the union(s) of the crew’s home nation(s) also takes part in the negotiations. This is to ensure that the agreement takes into account any national laws and customs and so that the crewmembers are able to become members of their national union.

Occasionally the ITF will sign an agreement directly with the shipowner.

If you are covered by an ITF Agreement, but there is not an ITF affiliated union in your home country, the ITF will represent you in matters to the employer.

An ITF Agreement comprises of the following:

• Special Agreement
  This is the legally binding document that binds the employer to the relevant ITF approved Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). It states which CBA applies, it gives the details of the ship covered and it states the dates the agreement is valid from/to. It states the shipowner obligations and it also states the legal right of ITF representatives to access and inspect the vessel for compliance with the agreement. Click the link to see an example of a Special Agreement.

• Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)
  This is the document which details all the terms and conditions of the crew employed on the ship. It specifies entitlements such as pay (in the form of a wage scale), working hours, etc. Use the links below, or click on the related documents on the right of this screen, to see the texts of various ITF Collective Bargaining Agreements.

• Individual employment contracts
  These are the contracts which link individual crew members to the ITF Agreement and relevant CBA. They list the details of the seafarer, the employer, the vessel and they state the terms and conditions of the CBA that apply to that particular crew member. So, for example, if he/she is an AB it will give the basic pay, guaranteed overtime, overtime rate, leave pay and subsistence allowance that apply to an AB. There should be 4 copies of the Seaman’s Employment Contract: one for the seafarer to keep for his/her own records; one for the ship’s file; one for ITF London; and one for the company’s file. Click on the link to see an example of a individual employment contract.

When a ship owner signs an ITF agreement, they undertake to:

• Apply the CBA’s relevant employment conditions laid out in the CBA;
• Incorporate those employment conditions into individual employment contracts and into the ship’s articles;
• Ensure there is appropriate insurance to cover the company against all liabilities in the relevant ITF Agreement;
• Accurately record working hours;
• Provide the ITF with a current crew list;
• Pay union membership fees to the signatory union or the ITF Special Seafarers’ Department; and
• Pay the ITF Welfare Fund contributions.

ITF Agreements fall into three main categories:

• Standard Agreement
  The ITF Standard Agreement is normally signed as a result of industrial action or if a company is found to have broken a previous agreement. It is the most costly agreement for the ship owner. Click on the link to see the ITF Standard Agreement.

• Total Crew Cost (TCC) Agreement
  The ITF TCC Agreement is the most common type of ITF Agreement. Most affiliated unions use the ITF Uniform TCC Agreement. There are several other types of TCC agreement, all ITF approved, which have been adopted by different affiliated unions worldwide. Whilst they may vary slightly (mainly due to the requirements of their national legislation) they are all based on the ITF Uniform TCC and meet with established ITF minimum standards. Click on the link to see an example of the ITF Uniform TCC Agreement.

• International Bargaining Forum (IBF) Agreement
  IBF Agreements are only available to ship owners that are members of one of the ship owners’ associations that sit alongside the ITF in the International Bargaining Forum (IBF). IBF Agreements vary in content but all fulfil minimum criteria. Employers negotiate their own IBF Agreement with the local union, normally once a year.
  

Other specialist ITF agreements include:

• ITF Offshore Standard Agreement
• ITF Cruise Ship Agreement for Catering Personnel

WHAT IS RPSL NUMBER

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What does RPSL mean?

Recruitment and Placement Services Licence (RPSL) is mandated by the Directorate General of Shipping for authorised recruiters and agents in India. Recruitment & Placement Services (RPS) rules issued by the Govt of India and enforced under the Indian Merchant Shipping Act, which provides a mechanism for protection of Indian seafarers working on Indian and Foreign flag vessels and the necessary safeguards for their repatriation in the event of their being stranded or during such other exigencies, when the ship owner fails to discharge the duty of repatriating the seafarers to the home port of the seaman. All RPS providers is issued with a Recruitment & Placement Services License (RPSL) number.

The motto of RPSL is as following:

To maintain the transparency and record of agencies and their respective Principals: so that no crew can make fake experiences of principal and appear for exams in the country. In such cases government can verify those experiences of principal from authorized agencies. Agencies have to submit the details of their clients for whom they are providing manning services.
Crew management Agency can maintain the record of crews and issue the genuine experience letter,so that crews can appear for exams in India. (Agencies can issue experience letter for only those vessels and principals whose documents are submitted and their details are updated with DG shipping)
Government wants to assure that seafarers who are selected by principals from India are adequately insured as per rules and regulations of MLC, IBF and CBA
If in case of any injustice is done to crew from principal’s side like salary is not paid, or any type harassment in such cases government can hold authorized agencies responsible and can take necessary action on agencies.
MMD (Marine Mercantile Department) will act as regulatory body over these agencies and hence sub graded and un- professional agencies will be eliminated.
Many shipping companies in international market demand and prefer only RPSL holder crew manning agencies. (Because these companies know that RPSL companies are disciplined and provide genuine crews as they are under government scanning)
The reason behind these steps taken by government is to safeguard crews and principal interests and support genuine crew manning agencies as per rules and regulations of MLC, IBF and CBA.
Some of the advantages of RPSL are mentioned in following table:

For	Advantages
Principal owner	They get genuine agency
	Get improved agency services
	Get hold on agency
	If crew misbehaves you can take action via agency
	As reportsare submitted to DG shipping, no crew can make duplicate experince of our principal
Crewing Agency	Transparent process
	control on crew and their behaviour
	We get genuine crews because of stricter selection process
Crews	Legal support in case of mishappening
	Recruitment from genuine agency
	Able to appear for exams in India
	Secured future