IBF pay talks: the musical

Negotiation of the renewal of an international seafarers’ pay agreement was concluded earlier this month after almost a year of talks between unions and employers.

The fact the increase in the International Bargaining Forum (IBF) agreement on total crewing costs including basic pay was 6.5% over three years had been anticipated. It had been preceded by an agreement at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) where ship owners and unions in the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) negotiated in February a 5% rise in the seafarer’s minimum wage spread over two years.

While both sides – the ITF and its counterparts both at the ILO and the IBF – have played down any direct link between what is agreed at the UN labour agency and the bilateral industry negotiations, the impact of the global economy and the intertwined fortunes of the industry is an inescapable factor affecting pay levels.

The IBF, now into its second decade of existence, sets a high benchmark for pay rates for crews on hundreds of ships on open registers like Panama and Liberia, although it is by no means comprehensive in its coverage of the open-register fleet. As well as covering seafarers’ pay and conditions, the IBF also negotiates on the contributions made by ship owners to the ITF’s Welfare Fund, both the amount and how the money is distributed. Other negotiations outside the IBF are influenced by its pay rates.

The ITF’s counterpart at the IBF, the Joint Negotiating Group (JNG), comprises the UK-based International Maritime Employers Council, the Korean Shipowners Association and the International Shipping Employers Group representing Japanese ship owners as well as Taipei-based Evergreen.

After the IBF talks were successfully concluded, Paddy Crumlin, the ITF President and National Secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia, said they were a “refection of the maturity of social dialogue and engagement within this aspect of the shipping industry”.

The JNG spokesman, Giles Heimann, said, although there had been signs of a market recovery, “many owners are still facing challenging times” and the JNG had worked hard to get a mutually acceptable agreement that would “aid owners to financially recover but at the same time will recognise the welfare of the seafarers that they employ”.

What may have intrigued some observers, however, was that while the ILO talks took place in the usual venue in Geneva, the final round of IBF talks were held on the Indonesian island of Bali. This is viewed by most people as an upmarket tourist location without any known connection to international shipping.

It may have been the case, however, that the organisers were aware that an idyllic and romantic setting such as Bali, also known as the “Island of Love”, was likely to be conducive to harmony. Its location in the South Pacific also might suggest to some that the participants may have conducted their negotiations through the medium of music.

Under this more entertaining scenario, the ITF team would have approached the IBF talks banging out on a drum a marching song that said shipping was now strong enough to afford a 15% rise, while the JNG side would have replied with a regretful ballad pleading poverty to a violin accompaniment.

To bridge that gap and encourage a peaceful resolution both sides might, on the eve of the talks, have gathered on a golden beach at sunset and sung “Happy Talk” from the musical South Pacific. Its chorus (“You Got to Have A Dream, If You Don’t Have A Dream, How You Gonna Have A Dream Come True?”) might have been rendered with gusto.

The next morning at dawn the leader of the ITF negotiations might have stood beneath a hotel room window and serenaded his JNG counterpart with “Pennies From Heaven”. In response the JNG chairman could have sung from his balcony the aria Un Bel Di (“One Fine Day”) from the opera Madame Butterfly by Puccini, stressing those lyrics that describe a ship being seen on the distant horizon and entering a harbour “on one fine day”.

Both sides would then have assembled for the first session which might have begun with the union side singing “There Is Nothing Like A Dime”, adapted from the number in South Pacific. In response the JNG team might have sung “If I Were a Rich Man” from the musical Fiddler On The Roof.

When agreement was reached on the increase of 6.5% over three years the union officials could have sung “Half a Sixpence” from the musical of the same name (“Half a sixpence is better than half a penny”), while the ship owners could have replied with “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by the Rolling Stones.

Both sides then might have formed a conga line and reprised “Happy Talk” as they danced under a silvery moon. The next day, with their job done, as they returned separately to their homes, they might have been humming softly “A Spoonful of Sugar” from the film Mary Poppins.

Perhaps the charms that music has to soothe even savage breasts like those of union officials and ship owners might be successfully employed in other places where too often, it seems, there is discord and rancour.

The talks that seek to devise new international rules to protect the environment from a variety of emissions might benefit perhaps from a rendition of “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes”, while “On A Slow Boat To China” might make those on approving agreements among container shipping lines proceed more harmoniously.

Having a sing-song can also be used to foster better relations in groups and is often used on ships where, with the Master leading the rest of the crew, favourites include “Don’t Rock The Boat” and “Let’s Work Together”. Experts in shipboard relationship management, in fact, recommend every ship has karaoke equipment in the mess-room.
Source: BIMCO