The world of maritime shipowners has long been shaken by violent controversies, the result of the struggle for leadership in the sector, exacerbated by old grievances between ancient entrepreneurial dynasties. The conflict has exploded in recent months between two large shipowners both from Naples, Honored e grimaldi, and even caused a split in the Confitarma, the historic association of the category, which led to the birth of Assoarmatori.
The Onorato group, which mainly manages internal lines of maritime traffic (Moby, Tirrenia CIN, Toremar) and employs almost exclusively Italian or EU personnel, faces challenging deadlines such as the renewal of concessions in 2020.
Il Grimaldi Group, economically more solid, it serves both national and international routes and employs non-EU workers as well as Italian and EU seafarers. One of the reasons for the clash between the two shipowners, in addition to issues of competition on some trades in the Mediterranean, would reside precisely in the presence of that minority of non-EU personnel embarked on Grimaldi ships.
Onorato wrapped himself in the tricolor standing up in defense of Italian or EU seafarers damaged by the dumping of non-EU citizens who offer greater advantages in terms of cost to shipowners who use this opportunity. Even if there are very recent signs of a thaw, the extremely harsh controversy between shipowners has found an echo in some newspapers (among which Il Tempo e The La Verità) who raised the doubt that the hiring of foreign seafarers on ships flying the Italian flag would be encouraged to the detriment of Italian and EU workers.
The story goes back a long way: Law 30/98 made it possible to bring the vast majority of Italian ships, at that time under a foreign flag, under the Italian flag, thanks to the birth of a new "International" register, adhering to which shipowners benefit of the total decontribution. They can also embark a certain number of non-EU workers at lower cost to that of community personnel (even if with stringent constraints both in number and in terms of employment), on condition that their performance is essentially linked to international traffic and completely excluding them from national traffic. The law was intended to defend the Italian flag from the risk that our ships decide to land (legally thanks to the "right of establishment") in more convenient shores.
The employment contracts that are applied to non-EU personnel are numerous, in particular the most used ones have been prepared and negotiated by international trade union organizations such as the ITF (which also CGIL, CISL and UIL are members of), Amosup, the powerful union Filipino or that undersigned
directly from the Italian trade unions with Confitarma. The wage gap (and therefore labor costs) is narrowing.
If until a few years ago, the monthly net wages, for example of a sailor, were of 1400 euros for a Italian sailor and 800 euros for a non-EU sailor, today this wage gap has almost halved. The higher the professional level, the more the differences are reduced: for positions relating to senior roles, the salaries of non-EU personnel are more expensive. Approximately 62.000 seafarers would be embarked on the ships registered in the Italian Naval Register, of which only 5% have a permanent contract: 42.00 EU (of which 30.000 Italian) and 20.000 non-EU.
Until 1998, before the entry into force of law 30 which allowed for a derogation from the regulations in force, the
Italian sailors were mostly embarked on ships flying a foreign flag. Are we dealing with a case, albeit partial, of contractual dumping? In part yes but it is inevitable. The seafarers' union has managed "ante litteram" what is the "natural" globalization of international maritime traffic where the work performance takes place by definition in an extra-territorial area and allows shipowners to freely choose the State of the Naval Register to which to join.
Imposing only the presence of Italians and EU citizens on ships flying the Italian flag would have caused the flight of national shipowners to a flag of convenience. Having said that, today it is appropriate to reflect in overall terms on the instruments for the protection of Italian workers. When our Government asks to
discipline in more rigorous terms the matter of State aids in the EU context, can it be affirmed that, while the work of the Turin workers of Embraco is transferred to the Slovak ones, part of that of the Italian seafarers goes to non-EU citizens?
The events are not comparable. The conditions are objectively different and can be improved on condition that processes that are not easy to control only with new legislation are governed realistically, whether it takes on the characteristics of European law, or (which is even more complex) international law.
The unemployment of Italian seafarers, which in real terms should not exceed 5.000 units, is the effect produced by the lack of required specializations that accompanies the offeroften occasional, of workers placed in the lower professional brackets who in fact suffer competition from non-EU citizens. Beyond the specificities, we are witnessing a dynamic of the labor market similar to
that of the industrial and service sectors, where there is a lack of specialists and low qualifications abound.
In reality it is difficult to correctly interpret the official statistics of those looking for work: only 110.000 are registered in the register of the Torre del Greco harbor master's office, but only a considerably smaller number would have the requisites and qualifications necessary to navigate and be able to answer the call within 48 hours.
In 2016, the Italian government approved a legislative decree which provides for the maintenance of the total taxation of contributions only for Italian or EU workers employed in small cabotage and on the lines connecting the islands and the Italian territory, which was sent to Brussels for the compliance visa in May last year and which is not yet in force.
Consistently, the decree, whose entry into force is expected, excludes the benefit of Italian ships
which embark non-EU citizens in an Italian port and then sail beyond the limits of national territorial waters. The reality of this sector, far from the traditional trade union world, has come to terms with the trends of the world economy well in advance. While in the past the port unions have tenaciously defended positions of objective monopoly, the maritime ones have always been forced to deal with the challenges of the "open markets", which are now increasingly affecting workers as well
of industry and services in our country.
These are scenarios induced by globalization which bring out the need to acquire, starting from the EU itself, convergent and homogeneous rules for an effective defense of workers. Hence the urgent need for the union to investigate, in terms of strategy, the most effective policies and tools for intervening in an increasingly supranational dimension.
