PHL Ratifies MLC
The Philippines became the 30th member-state of the international Labor Organization (ILO) that ratified the Maritime Labor Convention (MLC) of 2006 on Wednesday.
PHL becomes 30th state to ratify maritime labor convention
By Andrei Medina, GMA News
The Philippines became the 30th member-state of the international Labor Organization (ILO) that ratified the Maritime Labor Convention (MLC) of 2006 on Wednesday.
A Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) news release said MLC 2006 is expected to benefit some 300,000 overseas Filipino seafarers and 60,000 domestic seafarers.
DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said, “I am pleased to announce that no less than ILO Director-General Juan Somavia received the Philippines’s instrument of ratification of the Maritime Labor Convention 2006.”
The MLC 2006 is an international bill of rights for seafarers consolidating and updating labor standards.
It provides a balance between labor standards and the promotion of productivity.
The MLC 2006 will come into force 12 months after the date on which there have been registered ratifications by at least 30 member-states, with a total share in the world gross tonnage of ships of 33 percent.
Once it enters into force, the MLC, 2006 will be the “fourth pillar” of the international regulatory regime for quality shipping.
It will complement the key Conventions of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), such as the:
- International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, as amended (SOLAS)
- International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping, 1978, as amended (STCW)
- International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 73/78 (MARPOL).
In his report to Baldoz, Philippine Labor Attache to Geneva Manuel Imson said he, along with Philippine mission to the United Nations in Geneva charge d’affaires Denis Lepatan, turned over the ratification instrument at the ILO.
Somavia and ILO Executive Director Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry of the International Standards Department received the instrument.
Somavia also signed and issued the Certificate of Deposit of the instrument.
Before last week’s Senate concurrence of the ratification of the MLC, 29 ILO member-states, representing 58.5 percent of the world’s gross tonnage of ships, had deposited their instruments of ratification with the ILO Director-General.
With the deposit of the Philippine ratification instrument of the MLC 2006, she added the DOLE shall immediately call stakeholders to a series of meetings “to finalize regulations and propose legislation to fulfill the promise of seafarer protection and competitiveness.”
“Our country’s ratification of MLC 2006 highlights over a decade of involvement of the Philippine government, through the DOLE, in global maritime affairs that contributed to the adoption of the Convention in 2006,” Baldoz said.
“Thereafter, we pursued tripartite efforts through the DOLE-led Maritime Industry and Tripartite Council to address compliances and issues in Philippine maritime labor law and policy,” she added
Source: GMA News
