A major London Conference heard today from the international umbrella body for dock unions, the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), that treating port workers as stakeholders was the only way forward in a changing industry.
ITF Dockers Secretary Kees Marges explained to the Container Handling Automation and Technologies Conference, which opened today at the Holiday Inn in Victoria, Central London, that the application of international standards including social provisions could help ports to develop.
He said that the revolutionary changes in shipping predicted more than a decade ago due to the introduction of electronic data interchange (EDI) had not taken place. “My feeling is that the industry has yet to be subjected to an effective electronic revolution, which will most probably come through the use of the internet.”
Studies1 had shown that this was due to a tendency to focus “too much on documents instead of process” and an under-estimation of the time and training staff required to introduce EDI, amongst other things. At the same time, Marges said, less skilled workers were forced into long-term unemployment. Such pitfalls could be avoided by applying proper systems of consultation and negotiation, he added.
“By not implementing the policies, advice and suggestions covered by ILO Convention 1372 and Recommendation 145, an opportunity is being missed for countries, ports and terminal operators who wish to introduce new technologies including automation, at the lowest possible cost, and for them to improve labour relations” said Marges. “It is not my organisation’s intention to oppose or prevent the introduction of new technologies. On the contrary, we would like to learn from the lessons of the past in order to encourage it,” he explained.
The ITF is asking its dock worker affiliates worldwide to write to governments and members of parliament pressuring for the ratification of Convention 1373 and application of Recommendation 145’s provisions.
In this, the ITF has had an indication of support from European Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock. In a letter to Marges in September 1998 Kinnock said he shared a “positive view” of the need to promote Convention 137 and that he looked forward to ILO Member States ratifying the Convention.
1. Marges refers to an unpublished report by Geert Smidt (Netherlands Economic Institute) and Theo Bowman (Stichting Technologie en Zeggenschap, Amsterdam
2. The 58th Session of the International Labour Conference (1973) adopted ILO Convention 137 and Recommendation 145. The two instruments deal with the repercussions of technological change on the level of employment in ports and on the working and living conditions of port workers
3. ILO Convention 137 has not been ratified by the United Kingdom.
European Union countries which have done so are: Finland, France, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden
