Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Fishermen's Articles of Agreement Convention, 1959 (No. 114) - Panama (Ratification: 1970)

Other comments on C114

Observation

Direct Request

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Article 8 of the Convention. Information as to the conditions of employment on board. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government concerning the provisions respecting the facilities available for seafarers, including fishers, to examine the work agreement before it is signed and the requirement for the shipowner to provide them with a copy of the agreement. However, it draws the Government’s attention to the fact that Article 8 of the Convention is intended to enable the fisher to obtain clear information concerning his rights and obligations on board, and not only when signing the agreement. The Committee therefore requests the Government to adopt measures to ensure that fishers can obtain clear information on board concerning their conditions of employment. It requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any measures that may be taken in that regard. The Committee also recalls that the same requirement is set out in Article 18 of the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No. 188), which provides that the fisher’s work agreement, a copy of which shall be provided to the fisher, shall be carried on board and be available to the fisher and, in accordance with national law and practice, to other concerned parties on request.

Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee notes that, according to the information provided by the Government, the number of fishers at the domestic level who are covered by the provisions of the Convention was 295 in 2009, 163 in 2010 and 20 in the first six months of 2011. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the circumstances of this significant reduction in the number of fishers. It further notes that section 121 of Legislative Decree No. 8 of 26 February 1998 regulating work at sea and on navigable waterways establishes two maritime labour tribunals with jurisdiction over disputes relating to work performed at sea. The Committee requests the Government to provide further information on the operation of these tribunals, with an indication of whether they have jurisdiction over disputes relating to the application of the Convention. It also notes the examples of the forms used by the maritime labour inspection services, which were attached to the Government’s report and make reference to the work agreement of seafarers. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the application of the Convention in practice, including indications on the number of contraventions reported each year to the provisions giving effect to the Convention and any corrective measures taken.

Finally, the Committee notes that the Panama Maritime Authority is currently focusing all of its efforts on the preparation of the draft regulations to give effect to the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006), in the context of tripartite consultations, and that the Government cannot at present examine the possibility of ratifying Convention No. 188. The Committee requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any further developments in this regard.