ITF launches fishers’ convention guide

News Release International Transport Federation (ITF) February 3, 2012

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The ITF will launch a free guide for fishers’ trade unions to the ILO
Work in Fishing Convention tomorrow. Available in Arabic, English, French,
Indonesian, Spanish and Tamil, the new guide is designed to explain how the
convention can help fishers worldwide, and why it is so important that unions
help persuade more governments to ratify it.
 
Jon
Whitlow, ITF fisheries section
secretary, said:  “Commercial fishing is one of the most
dangerous and unregulated types of work there is. The ILO Work in Fishing
Convention 2007 aims to ensure that fishers worldwide have access to decent
working and living conditions.” 
 
He continued: “Convention 188 was a landmark – but it needs to be
backed and understood. This guide sets out to explain it from a user’s
perspective, and also why it needs support. Although adopted, it needs to be
ratified by 10 ILO (International Labour Organization) member states, eight of
which must be coastal ones. That target hasn’t been reached yet. We believe that
it is essential that more countries ratify, and that fishers’ unions have an
important role to play in persuading them to do so.”
 
He concluded: “This publication is intended to help unions, their
members, and anyone else interested in improving the lives and safety of those
working in this often dangerous industry gain the deeper understanding of the
convention necessary in order to help them lobby more effectively for its
ratification.”
 
The guide can be downloaded at <A
href="redir.aspx?C=53880d65b4bd4525818ef40a2c9704bf&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.itfglobal.org%2finfocentre%2fpubs.cfm%2fdetail%2f33050"
target=_blank>www.itfglobal.org/infocentre/pubs.cfm/detail/33050</A>

  
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