Wages of Indian Seafarers Revised Upwards by Up to 40 Percent

Mumbai, (PTI) Wages of Indian seafarers have been revised upwards by up to 40 per cent retrospectively from January this year, following signing of a pact between the Indian National Shipowners’ Association (INSA) and seafarers bodies NUSI and FSUI, a release said on Wednesday. The wage agreement signed on December 7 under the aegis of the 47th National Maritime Board (India) will remain in effect till December 31, 2023, and will benefit over 50,000 ratings and petty officers serving on Indian ships of foreign-going, home trade, offshore vessels and harbour tugs, it said. For the first time, a new agreement has been reached for?seamen’s at harbour tugs as well as part of the 47th National Maritime Board (India), according to the release.

The National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI) and the Forward Seafarers Union of India (FSUI) are the two representative bodies of the seafarers in the country, while INSA has 36 members on its platform. Under the revised wage agreement, foreign-going ratings and petty officers will get 40 per cent and 30 per cent hike, respectively, in their wages, while home trade ratings and petty officers’ wages have been increased by 20 per cent, the release said. Similarly, offshore ratings and petty officers’ basis wages have been revised by more than 10 per cent and seven per cent, respectively, it said. Also, seafarers working exclusive on harbour tugs will get a 10 per cent increase in the overall salary for the period of January 1, 2021, and December 31, 2022, the release said.

It added that there will be a further cumulative increase of five per cent for them for the January 1-December 31, 2023, period, it added. The agreement protects the employee rights of Indian seafarers working in various capacities for Indian shipowners, said the release. Apart from salaries, the death compensation amounts and the amount of disability compensation for seafarers on ships-carrying radioactive material has also been increased significantly, stated the release. The latest agreement also favours terms of re-employment, skill enhancement, reducing discrimination, increasing mental health awareness, and creating robust grievance procedures for mariners, it said. This agreement is valid for a period of four years, starting from January 1,2020, it said.

Source: PTI