Circular No: NP/286/16
TO ALL SHIPPING AND OFFSHORE BRANCHES & REGIONAL COUNCILS.
Our ref: S1/3/6/7
13th December 2016
Dear Colleagues
ETF Maritime Seminar, Brussels 28th February 0900-1330
Further to the circular no. NP/184/15 of 2nd October 2015, the ETF Maritime Transport Section (MTS) will be holding a seminar during European Shipping Week (ESW) 2017 which all ETF-affiliated unions have been invited to mobilise for and to participate in.
The seminar will cover employment rights and training needs of European seafarers and will be held in Brussels on Tuesday 28th February at Wiltcher’s Hotel, from 0900 to 1330, after which lunch will be provided.
This event continues to promote the need for more jobs and training for European Seafarers, as well as maintaining awareness of the destructive impact Flags of Convenience and second registers are having on European seafarers and the regional maritime skills base. The ETF affiliates are asked to continue to press EU officials, the European Community Shipowners Association (ECSA) and individual employers to adopt the ETF Manifesto on Quality Shipping and to promote the Manifesto to the media and wider public.
A detailed programme for the seminar, including speakers, round tables and subjects to be addressed will be circulated in due course. RMT have asked to provide a speaker for the ETF Seminar and the union will use this event to set out and advance the aims of the SOS2020 campaign.
The union’s Shipping Branches are therefore asked to nominate one delegate to attend the ETF seminar. The cost of attendance will be a legitimate form of branch expenditure. It would be appreciated if each branch could send the name of the attending delegate to d.crimes@rmt.org.uk by Friday 27th January 2017. All delegates will need a valid passport in order to attend.
RMT has also asked the ETF MTS Steering Committee to provide an update on progress and developments in establishing the Manifesto on Quality Shipping and related activities since the ETF Seafarers Seminar held in the European Parliament on 21st October 2015 which was attended by the union.
You will be kept informed of all developments ahead of the ETF Seminar and it would be appreciated if you could bring this circular to the attention of all members in your Branch.
Yours sincerely
Mick Cash
General Secretary