Collective agreements
Collective agreements ensure fair working conditions on board – VDR actively participates as a negotiating partner.
Collective bargaining policy is an important field of activity for VDR. Whether it’s a collective labour agreement or a current wage agreement: as an employers’ association, VDR is the negotiating partner of the German seafarers’ union, representing the interests of the member companies that have joined together in the VDR collective bargaining association.
VDR’s authority to negotiate ensures regulated working conditions without distortions of competition among its members and in the industry. Our successful, employment-focused collective bargaining policy includes differentiated and flexible agreements. The industry-wide collective agreement largely keeps conflicts out of companies, ensuring peaceful operations. Especially in a tightly interwoven economy with distributed roles, this enables companies to plan with confidence.
This is why the VDR is also involved in international collective bargaining wherever this is possible and appropriate. This includes maintaining a close dialogue with seafarers’ organisations – ITF, AMOSUP and others – to contribute to competitive and fair working conditions through a social dialogue. As a member of IMEC, VDR participates in international collective bargaining within the IBF framework and manages the AIT (Association of International Collective Labour Agreements) under its umbrella. International ocean shipping can only function within a fair framework in which employers and labour representatives cooperate. VDR therefore actively supports the minimum wages set every three years by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Geneva, which are the only benchmark of their kind in the world.