No agreement was reached over shipping’s largest collective bargaining pact during a “difficult” second round of negotiations in Tokyo.
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and employers represented by the Joint Negotiating Group (JNG) sat at the same table on Tuesday and Wednesday, following the opening round of negotiations in London in January.
Dave Heindel, chair of ITF’s seafarers’ section who chaired the talks, said: “We have made some progress, but at this stage the prospect of concluding an agreement before the current one expires looks remote.
“We want to keep the lines of communication open and see if we can progress matters between now and the end of the year.”
An existing three-year agreement is in place but expires at the end of 2017.
In a joint announcement, both sides said they confirmed their support – in principle – for the outcome of officer-level interim discussions held between forums.
But concerns over core contractual demands as well as the quantum of any wage increase still remains, they added.
Masami Sasaki, chairman of JNG, said: “This round of negotiations has turned out to be a difficult one at a time when the industry is in a challenging economic situation. However there were commitment efforts shown by both parties.
“We hope to achieve a positive outcome for both parties through continued negotiation.”
