The seafarer thanked the Seafarers Union of Russia for assistance

The Seafarers Union of Russia received an official message of thanks from a former crewmember of m/v Leros, who was helped by the SUR to sign off ahead of schedule and receive a salary. At the end of August, the sailor's wife got in touch with the SUR.

She said that her husband wants to return home before the completion of the Contract of Employment because of unbearable working conditions. Instead of an eight–hour working day, he did watch six through six, that is, 12 hours a day.  Despite the fact that the vessel Leros is not covered by the ITF collective agreement, the trade union managed to reach an agreement with the shipowner in a fairly short time.

The parties agreed that the seafarer would be paid the money earned, but the funds for repatriation would be deducted, since he was on probation period. This option suited the crewmember himself. After 10 days he was repatriated, he returned home safely, but the salary was not paid.

SUR inspectors verified the seafarer's contract with the Maritime Labor Convention’s requirements and the real state of affairs during his work on the ship, and the detected violations of the work and rest regime were sent to the company. Thus, the employment contract included a 48-hour working week with one day off and 103 hours of additional overtime, but in fact the seafarer had a 12-hour working day without days off, including fixed overtime, that is, 360 hours per month. This is a direct violation of the MLC. Questions also arose about the clause of the repatriation agreement. So, the A2 Standard.5.3 prohibits shipowners from requirement advance payments from seafarers against manning expenses, as well as recovering of funds from wages or other payments for the reliever’s travel expenses. However, as it turned out, the former employer of a crewmember of m/v Leros withheld  the cost of the replacement  from the his salary. 

«In our opinion, the discrepancy between the documents and the actual working conditions indicates a deliberate violation of the convention», – the SUR is confident. Nevertheless, common sense prevailed. The company admitted the mistake by paying the seafarer according to the original agreement all the money, except for the repatriation’s cost.

«Thank you for your help in solving my problem, I would especially like to note your professional approach to work», - the seafarer wrote in the SUR.