Spanish wharfie deaths spark safety campaign

Casualisation is life threatening, according to the International Dockworkers Council

European dock workers agreed to launch a safety campaign at a recent meeting of the IDC's Committee of Safety and Prevention of Labour Risks in Barcelona, Lloyds List reports.

The meeting, which was attended by 40 representatives from 20 ports in Europe, including stevedoring workers from Cyprus, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France and Sweden analysed existing policies in various European countries before agreeing to establish a "common minimum base" to protect workers.

Only days before the conference a Spanish waterside worker was killed in the port of Algeciras, the fourth Spanish docker to have died in recent months.

The IDC said these tragic accidents must not be allowed to disappear in a statistical blur. Key to avoiding future deaths was replacing casual labour with fully trained permanent workers.

"Badly trained workers who are worse paid and put under exhausting long days without the appropriate material can be, in the short term, cheaper for the companies, but the result usually is catastrophic for all," the IDC said in a statement.

"That is the reason for the rejection by the IDC of the policies of deregulation of the ports that, with much insistence, are being applied in the European wharves."

"And that is the reason for the support of the IDC for policies which create stable jobs, training of the workers and reinvestment in labour safety measures."

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