The Future of Work Podcast

Good afternoon and welcome to this ILC lunchtime  conversation on implementing the Maritime Labour  

Convention in times of crisis. I'm Zeina Awad. 

This year marks the 20th anniversary of  the Maritime Labour Convention, or MLC,  

and it is regarded as a landmark achievement for  both seafarers and the global shipping industry. 

Now, the Convention helped to establish a  global framework for decent work and living  

conditions on the high seas, and it has created  fair competition across the maritime sector. 

But over the last few years, we've seen  a lot of crises. Seafarers themselves  

have found themselves stranded as trade routes  have been disrupted by conflict and pandemics. 

We saw firsthand how vulnerable seafarers  can be during conflict and crisis, and how  

essential their work is to the global economy. All we have to do is look at what's happening  

today with the global economy as a result  of the disruptions in the Middle East. 

So, to help us better understand the issues at  hand, what we've accomplished so far, and what we  

still need to be accomplishing as we move forward,  I'm very pleased to welcome a wonderful panel. 

I'll start from over there with Max. Max Jonhs is the Vice-Chair of the  

Special Tripartite Committee of the  MLC and a former shipowner himself. 

Next to him is Beatriz Vacotto, the  ILO's Head of the Maritime Unit. 

And here we've got Mr Jainal T. Rasul  Jr., the Undersecretary of the Department  

of Migrant Workers from the Philippines. And last but not least, we've got Carlos  

Muller, who's the delegate of the Workers'  Group in Brazil and also the President of  

the National Confederation of Waterway  and Air Transport, Fishing and Ports,  

or CONTTMAF Workers' Group in Brazil. Welcome, and it's good to have you here. 

So, I'd like to start with you, Undersecretary. It's been twenty years, as we said, since the MLC  

was adopted, and many have described it  as a great success, one of the greatest  

successes of the International Labour Standards. Why is the Convention so effective, and what is it  

about it that's made it so successful? Thank you very much, Zeina. 

From the Philippine perspective, since  its adoption twenty years ago, the Maritime  

Labour Convention, or MLC for short, has been  effective in terms of striking a balance between  

two competing goals – not necessarily competing,  but two main goals – of protecting the rights and  

welfare of seafarers and ensuring fair competition  among shipowners as well as the stakeholders. 

The MLC holds particular importance to  the Philippines, it being one of the  

main suppliers of seafarers, comprising about  25 per cent of the total global supply of seafarers. 

In 2012, the Philippines ratified the  Convention, being the 30th country to ratify,  

enabling the Convention to take its legal force. Thus, as we mark the 20th anniversary of the  

Convention this year, we recognize its tremendous  importance and contribution to seafarers all over. 

Aside from the international balancing standard  set forth by the MLC, the Convention also is  

very important in terms of compliance and  enforcement mechanisms through flag State  

control as well as port State control enforcement. I understand that since the last 20 years, about a  

thousand ships or vessels have been detained due  to deficiencies and non-compliance, particularly  

those found wanting in the employment contracts of  seafarers and poor living and working conditions. 

The Philippines therefore has a stake in  the effective implementation of the MLC  

and in shaping key reforms. On the national level, the  

Philippines has undertaken significant measures  to implement the MLC and related global standards.  

One, to reinforce seafarers' rights and welfare. The Philippines has enacted the Magna Carta  

of Filipino Seafarers, Republic Act No.  12021, in 2024, a national legislation  

which aligns with the objectives of the MLC, 2006. The Magna Carta builds upon the foundation laid by  

the MLC. However, while the MLC guarantees decent  work at sea, the Magna Carta broadens the policy  

lens to encompass the entire well-being  of Filipino seafarers and their families,  

from recruitment and employment to  crisis response, return, reintegration  

and lifelong professional development. We also have the Manila Declaration of  

Seafarers' Human Rights, Safety and Well-being,  a Philippine-led initiative which was signed  

on 3 September 2025 in Manila and now  endorsed by a growing number of countries.

The Manila Declaration's key  commitments include the need  

to uphold seafarers' human rights on land  and sea, to fully enforce the MLC, 2006,  

and to improve emergency preparedness and response  in times of crisis and threats to maritime safety. 

And just yesterday, during the celebration  of Migrant Workers Day in the Philippines,  

the Department of Migrant Workers, led by His  Excellency Secretary Hans Leo J. Cacdac, signed  

and approved three legal instruments, namely: One, the 2026 DMW Rules and Regulations Governing  

the Recruitment and Employment  of Overseas Filipino Seafarers. 

Two, the Standard Employment Contract  Governing Overseas Filipino Seafarers. 

And three, the Standard  Employment Contract for Fishers,

after a year of consultation  with the various stakeholders. 

Thank you, Zeina. Thank you. 

And of course, Filipino seafarers  make up a very important number,  

or percentage, of seafarers globally. So, if we were to move from the experience of  

the Philippines to the wider experience of workers  and reflect on the MLC, Carlos, what would you say  

makes the MLC really so special? Well, thank you. 

The MLC for us was a real game changer. It brought in one very modern document, the whole

seafarers' rights that were before  that in more than 70 documents. 

It established that decent work and  living conditions aboard are not an  

option. They are an obligation that  should be followed in all countries. 

It combines rights with enforcement mechanisms,  and it brings contracts, wages, repatriation,  

medical care, rest hours, accommodation, food,  welfare and protection against abandonment. 

The complaint procedures, the inspections  and the port State control are very important  

mechanisms for the enforcement of the MLC. In Brazil, labour inspectors are working very  

hard, and we can say that they have an important  role in identifying and addressing violations,  

and they are really working well in Brazil. The MLC also promotes fair competition between  

the shipowners, and we understand  this is very important for them. 

For workers, the MLC is the floor, and with  discussion, with collective bargaining, we want to  

build a proper playing field all around the world. And to finalize, tripartism keeps the Convention  

alive, updated and connected with  the real problems of the seafarers. 

Enforcement is very important, as you've just  pointed out, and we wouldn't have enforcement if  

we didn't have the partnership with employers. Max, why is the MLC so important? 

Well, the MLC is, I think, first of all, really  a reason to celebrate because after 20 years we  

can see that a multilateral body, a tripartite  body, shaped something that is alive and working,  

and is working as was expected, or almost. So that was a promise that is fulfilled,  

and I think that is something to celebrate. The real achievement, I think, is to bring  

labour standards into the centre of maritime. As Carlos said already, that's very important for  

competition, but it's also especially  important, of course, for the workers. 

Having these workers' rights now at the  centre of the maritime legal framework  

is something we had not really seen before. We had lots of regulations, but they were not  

bundled, they were not very clear, and every  flag State could adhere to them differently. 

Now it's combined, now it's fair. And I think the real step change  

has been that shipping regulations  so far had been very technical. 

We focused on the technology of ships after  the Titanic so that ships would not sink,  

and that was very material. And the real discovery was  

what the key point is: the seafarers. And I think that's the biggest achievement. 

So, we've heard from government,  workers and employers here. 

If I was to turn to you, Beatriz, we are the  proud custodians of social dialogue at the ILO. 

So, from your perspective, from the perspective  of the ILO, what makes the MLC so special? 

Well, thank you. I think social dialogue is the main  

pillar of this discussion because through social  dialogue we adopted new mechanisms never tested in  

other ILO standards that have proved successful. Today we have 112 ratifications representing more  

than 96% of the world fleet, including the main  labour-supplying countries like the Philippines. 

So the big success is that the  Convention is operating in practice. 

One technical element that has  made a big difference is the  

non-more-favourable-treatment clause. This is very technical, but it means  

that if a ship from a non-ratifying country  enters a ratifying port, that port can  

require a respect for seafarers' rights. And this has triggered, in practice,  

a lot of ratifications because if you in  any case need to comply, you better ratify  

and have your legislation enforced. So that very, very important element. 

Of course, the amendment system was mentioned. The  possibility to quickly respond to new challenges  

and to amend the provisions of the Convention when  needed and when there is consensus is key because  

this maintains this instrument as relevant. And just to mention some examples, after the  

pandemic the Convention was amended to introduce a  very clear right to internet access for seafarers. 

And also last year, important amendments were  adopted on violence and harassment on board,  

and on shore leave, which is a key right  for seafarers where there were issues. 

Thank you very much. So we've heard about what makes the MLC,  

or the Maritime Labour Convention, so special. Let's now place it within the current context. 

The sector has been tested by one crisis after  the other. We had the COVID-19 pandemic, the  

Ukraine war, and now of course what's happening  in the Middle East and the Strait of Hormuz. 

So when we look at all of this, what can we say? What do these crises reveal about the importance  

of the MLC and specifically  the need to protect workers,  

or seafarers, in emergency situations? Maybe I can start with you, Carlos. 

We can say that the recent  crises showed us two things. 

First, the MLC is very important  for guaranteeing rights. 

But second, this can become very fragile  during wars, conflicts or disruption. 

COVID-19 exposed serious failures  in crew change, repatriation,  

medical care and contact with families. The war in Ukraine, attacks against the  

Iranian territory and the disruption in  the Strait of Hormuz show how political  

conflicts directly affect seafarers. Seafarers must not be treated as a side  

victim of any war. They should always  be in the centre of the discussion. 

And we need multilateralism to find  what's the best way to protect them. 

Unilateral maritime trade sanctions also  have contributed to grow the questionable  

registry and the shadow fleets.  They are not good for the seafarers. 

We cannot enforce any rights  in shadow fleet vessels. 

So we need together efforts to have ships preferably  registered under real flags, national flags. 

That's what we believe could  bring more rights in the sector. 

Max, can I turn to you and ask you as  well? What are your thoughts on this? 

I think we learned, if I go back to the  COVID crisis, we learned a lot there. 

And at the ILO, the ILO was extremely  active there to save some seafarers,  

to get some seafarers free, to get seafarers home. But we learned that shore leave and especially  

trying to get seafarers home didn't  work. It didn't work properly. 

We had seafarers work for many months,  too many months, on board of the vessels,  

and some seafarers couldn't get  home, sometimes even for years. 

So there was a fundamental default which  we could not foresee twenty years ago. 

And I think this fault line has to be corrected. 

And the fault line is that we thought we could  do everything if we regulated within maritime. 

But in COVID we discovered we need also the  border controls. We need the ministries of  

the interior, the ministries of the  exterior, the ministries of health. 

And most of them had not  even been aware of the MLC. 

So the MLC is very focused on maritime, of course,  that's what it's supposed to be, but everybody  

else in the countries is also bound by it. And that was new, and that didn't work,  

and that's why seafarers suffered. And that is something we have to definitely  

improve, and that's one big learning. A very big learning. 

From the other crises, just a short one only. We see that seafarers suffer greatly also because  

they don't have shore leave. They can't get  sometimes food on board of the vessels, as we see  

in the Middle East crisis right now. Things that wouldn't happen to airline crews,  

that wouldn't happen to other transport workers. But seafarers are treated as a different species,  

as a different kind of human beings, and  that is something we have to stop and change. 

Undersecretary, if I can turn to you again,  given the Philippines' firsthand experience  

with seafarers, what would you say we've  learned given the last crises that we've had,  

and what do we need to do in order to  better protect seafarers during emergencies? 

Yes, the Maritime Labour  Convention has so far been  

successful, but we have seen changes recently. Various geopolitical tensions, armed conflicts,  

war, pandemics and even other crisis situations  require more strategic reforms on the part of all  

of us, beyond just the traditional labour  standards, and require a more responsive,  

resilient and realistic approach for  seafarer protection, safety and security. 

This means that seafarers' rights and welfare must  be protected during armed conflicts or piracy. 

There's a need for stronger cooperation  among maritime stakeholders, including  

Member States governments, to respond  to these conflicts and emergencies and to be  

accountable to the seafarers' safety and security, and  shall assist in all possible means to facilitate  

their rescue, safe passage and return. The mechanisms that need to be strengthened  

during crisis situations include the following:  financial security and abandonment protection,  

mandatory repatriation, shipowner  liability for wages and welfare,  

onboard complaint procedures, and many others. At the end, the continued success of the MLC  

depends on its ability to evolve with the  challenges ahead and safeguard the life and  

safety of our seafarers. Thank you. Beatriz.

Yes, these recent crises have told us very  clearly that seafarers are key workers. 

I think in the maritime sector you knew it. You  cannot operate without the seafarers. But the  

rest of the world is not that aware. These days we see that a blockade,  

where seafarers cannot work, where shipping cannot  work, is causing impact all around the world. 

And during the COVID pandemic we didn't  see that clearly because trade continued,  

seafarers continued working in the very  terrible conditions that you mentioned. 

So societies today cannot operate without  seafarers, and we hope that this is now  

a clear message that is now included in the  text of the Maritime Labour Convention. 

The Convention was amended last year. We have  a clear provision requesting governments to  

recognize seafarers as key workers and give  them those rights, facilitate transfer,  

access to medical care, shore leave. And as Max said, the MLC has been a key tool  

for the ILO to work with other agencies, with the  World Health Organization, with the International  

Maritime Organization, to say we need to work  together to make these rights enforceable. 

And the ILO Committee of Experts have clearly said  that the MLC cannot be suspended during crises  

and, to the contrary, during these crises  these minimum rights have to be enforced. 

And I think I want to highlight what you  said, Undersecretary, minimum rights. 

The MLC contains minimum rights, but through  collective bargaining, Carlos, you mentioned,  

and with the shipowners and through legislation,  you are working to improve those rights,  

to go beyond and to ensure the overall well-being  of seafarers, which includes also their families,  

as you mentioned. Thank you very much. 

I mean, it is such an  interesting and important topic. 

I'm afraid this is all the time we have for today. We have learned a lot and heard a lot about the  

importance of multilateralism, the importance of  working across agencies, across different sectors  

in order to ensure that seafarers continue to  be protected as they face more and more crises. 

So that's all for today's episode. Thank you so much for being with  

us today and for listening. We have accomplished a lot. We  

have a lot still left to accomplish, and we hope  to continue with our social dialogue on the MLC. 

To our audience, thank you for being here. We hope you'll stay with us and you'll  

join us for more lunchtime conversations. We'll have much more for you this week and beyond. 

Now, in the meantime, please don't  forget to follow us on social media. 

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YouTube: ILO TV. Until the next time, take care and see you soon.