ITF task force backs Latin American, Caribbean cabotage

MARCH 26, 2015 — Unions affiliated with the ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) have launched a new Americas Region task force group dedicated to protecting the rights of Latin American and Caribbean workers in the offshore oil and gas sector. As part of its aims, the new ITF Americas Regional Offshore Oil and Gas Task Force Group will campaign to retain and secure national cabotage and continental shelf jurisdiction in the offshore oil and gas sector. 

Enrique Lozano from the Mexican maritime union Orden de Capitanes y Pilotos Navates has been appointed as the co-ordinator of the group.

“The Americas OTFG, backed by the ITF and its global Offshore Task Force Group (OFTG), will send a signal to governments and the hydrocarbon industry that cabotage in the region is here to stay and the ITF Global Offshore Policy will be fully promoted in the region,”  says Antonio Fritz, ITF Americas regional secretary. “Reserved national cabotage is a key element of the ITF’s Mexico City policy, and it is great to see that its benefits for countries and workers are being so vigorously upheld here.”