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The ITF and employers agreed the groundbreaking Non-Seafarers' Work Clause in 2020, which mandates that tasks like lashing and unlashing cargo should be performed by trained and qualified dockworkers, not by seafarers. Yet every year seafarers are killed or seriously injured carrying out lashing duties for which they are not trained. The ITF wants all seafarers to know that they can refuse this dangerous work
Why is this work dangerous?
Seafarers are often seen performing lashing and unlashing work, without the proper training and often unpaid. In addition, they are sometimes asked to do it alone, which puts them at further risk of injury, whereas dockworkers should always work in pairs. Also, local lashers and their employers always carry out a vessel safety inspection first to make sure the workplace is safe to work in.
What rights do I have?
If the shipowner still insists that you do the work, please contact the ITF Seafarers' Support team and your industrial organiser at Nautilus.
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