Danish Shipping and the Ukrainian trade union Marine Transport Workers’ Trade Union of Ukraine  have put pen to paper on a collective agreement initially covering Ukrainian officers on DIS-ships. An agreement covering ordinary Ukrainian seafarers is also expected to be concluded in the near future.

As of October 1, and onwards, Ukrainian seafarers working on ships under the Danish International Ship Register can look forward to being covered by a collective agreement. This is the result of several months of thorough negotiations between the parties.

So far, only foreign seafarers from the Philippines and India have been covered by DIS. The agreement for Ukrainian seafarers closely aligns with these while maintaining flexibility to continue the individual terms that Ukrainian seafarers have been employed under, within the framework of the agreement. Thus, the good conditions are now continued within the solid framework of a collective agreement.

“Today is a big day for Ukrainian seafarers and MTWTU. Our highly qualified seafarers will have access to decent level of salaries and compensations, a wide range of Union services, legal support, medical compensations, educational and social initiatives. Ukrainian seafarers will be well represented even in times of heaviest challenge,” says Oleg Grygoriuk, Chairman of MTWTU.

I am very proud that we have managed to keep so many Ukrainian seafarers employed during a very difficult time for Ukraine

Anne Windfeldt Trolle, Director of Labour Market, Recruitment, and Education at Danish Shipping

“I am very pleased that today we have been able to sign an agreement with our Ukrainian partners, bringing stability to the conditions of Ukrainian seafarers on DIS ships. I look forward to, in the near future, also having ordinary Ukrainian seafarers covered by the collective agreement. I am very proud that we have managed to keep so many Ukrainian seafarers employed during a very difficult time for Ukraine,” says Anne Windfeldt Trolle, Director of Labour Market, Recruitment, and Education at Danish Shipping.

Today a couple of hundreds of Ukrainian seafarers on DIS-ships.