The Minister of Labour & Productivity, begins the process of ratifying the International Labour Organisation’s Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC2006).
During the session, the Minister, Emeka Wogu commented that the step is another milestone aimed at generating and sustaining industrial peace and harmony which is pivotal for the attainment of the Transformation Agenda of the present administration of President Goodluck Jonathan. He stated, “This meeting marks for us another milestone in our efforts at generating and sustaining industrial peace and harmony so necessary for the attainment of the present Administration’s Transformation Agenda”.
The MLC will come into force on 20 August 2013, as the required 30 member states have ratified the convention, which provides comprehensive rights and protection at work for the world's more than 1.2 million seafarers.
The Convention sets out seafarers' rights to decent conditions of work on a wide range of subjects, and aims to be globally applicable, easily understandable, readily updatable and uniformly enforced. It has been designed to become a global instrument known as the "fourth pillar" of the international regulatory regime for quality shipping, complementing the key Conventions of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).