Last year, two tug workers, Troy Pearson and Charley Cragg, died while they were pressured to tow a barge for Rio Tinto despite the unsafe conditions of rough seas and strong, icy winds.
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has now launched a short film, “Tug Workers Sound the Siren”, that tells the story of Pearson’s death, and exposes the human cost of the tug and towage industry, which IFT claims that it is in crisis.
Alongside the film, a new report namely “Stopping the Race to the Bottom” has also been released, laying the rapid deterioration of safety and conditions of employment.
The ITF report reveals a bidding environment created by the alliances’ demands for discounts and enabled by weak labour laws, which allows operators to survive “by clawing back costs from their maintenance, safety and labour budgets,” according to IFT.
“We launch this film with heavy hearts, but if I can borrow the words of Troy’s wife Judy, as unions we must sound the siren on this crisis because if we continue to allow these injustices to happen, nothing is going to change and we will continue to lose lives,” said ITF general secretary, Stephen Cotton.
Cotton also warned that the tug and towage sector is likely to be the next frontier of the supply chain crisis. “Consolidation in shipping has led to consolidation in towage: fewer and fewer tug operators are able to survive the pressure of lower rates and in-port competition. In Europe, for example, the number of major players has dwindled from 10 to just three in less than a decade, and two of those are owned by shipping giants,” said Cotton.
“This investigative research reveals an alarming picture about the modern state of the tug and towage industry,” said Jacques Kerkhof, European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) Towage Committee chair.
“It’s not surprising that workplace accidents are increasing in severity. Unsafe manning levels are more common. Legal rest times are being violated. Workers’ stress and fatigue levels are rising,” added Kerkhof.
