Tuvalu Overseas Seamen's Union
Tuvalu Overseas Seamen's Union | |
Headquarters | Funafuti, Tuvalu |
---|---|
Location | |
Members | 600 |
Key people | Valo Valo, general secretary |
Affiliations | International Transport Workers' Federation |
The Tuvalu Overseas Seamen's Union (TOSU) is the only registered trade union in Tuvalu. It represents workers on foreign ships, and has a membership of 600.
The TOSU is affiliated with the International Transport Workers' Federation.
Tuvaluans are well known for their seafaring skills, with the Tuvalu Maritime Training Institute on Amatuku motu (island), Funafuti, providing training to approximately 120 marine cadets each year so that they have the skills necessary for employment as seafarers on merchant shipping.[1] TMTI now operates under the Tuvalu Maritime Training Institute Act 2000.
A number of Tuvaluans are employed as merchant seamen on cargo ships on contracts of up to 12 months. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimates that 800 Tuvaluan men are trained, certified and active as seafarers. The ADB estimates that, at any one time, about 15 percent of the adult male population works abroad as seafarers. The Ahrenkiel Group of Germany is the shipping company that is the primary employer of Tuvaluan seafarers.[2]
Tuvaluan merchant mariners
The Tuvalu Marine Training Institute (TMTI) provides Tuvaluan men with eight months of training to provide the basic level of maritime qualifications necessary for employment in the international maritime industry.
The
Tuvaluan seafarers compete with seafarers from Kiribati and South and Southeast Asian countries. There are higher transport costs for Tuvaluan and I-Kiribati seafarers to travel to take up positions of ships put them as a disadvantage as compared to other seafarers. Structural changes to merchant shipping industry have occurred following the GFC with the industry suffering low profitability and overcapacity. The increasing automation of ship operations has also reduced the demand for Tuvaluan seafarers.[6]
References
- ^ "Tuvalu marine cadets". Retrieved 28 January 2013.
- ^ a b c "Maritime Training Project: Program Completion Reports" (PDF). Asian Development Bank. September 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
- ^ Borovnik, Maria (2009). "Transnationalism of Merchant Seafarers and their Communities in Kiribati and Tuvalu". Migration and Transnationalism: Pacific Perspectives (Chapter 9) ANU Press. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
- ^ Stephen Boland and Brian Dollery (2005). "The Economic Significance of Migration and Remittances in Tuvalu". University of New England, School of Economics, Working Paper Series No. 2005-10. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
- ^ Sihotang, Lincoln (November 2009). "The Global Economic Crisis impact on Tuvalu Seafarers Remittance: the story of Tangata's Family". UNESCAP Pacific Operations Centre. Archived from the original on 29 November 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
- ^ a b "Tuvalu: 2014 Article IV Consultation-Staff Report; Public Information Notice on the Executive Board Discussion; and Statement by the Executive Director for Tuvalu" (PDF). International Monetary Fund Country Report No. 14/253. 5 August 2014. p. 27. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
Additional sources
- ISBN 0-9543811-5-7.