Seafarers' union Nautilus International is calling for a $50 rise in the global minimum wage for crew.
It will argue that the time has come for a pay hike at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) talks in June.
Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson will lead a delegation on behalf of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) within the Joint Maritime Commission, an ILO body.
The minimum wage is currently the equivalent of $584 per month, Nautilus said.
Dickinson believes this is "scant reward" for a job which often involves working more than 90 hours a week and being away from home for up to eight months at a time.
“Crewing the world’s roughly 52,000 ships are approximately 1,647,000 seafarers many of whom work dizzyingly long hours, in dangerous conditions, and for far too many, in return for a pittance,” he said.
“When you consider what seafarers endure at work and the efficiencies that the merchant navy has achieved in recent years, as well as the importance of cargo carrying to the global community, it is clear that the time has come for a significant rise."
He added: “The case I will be making in Geneva is fundamentally a moral one - seafarers deserve a pay rise. I will be asking for an increase of just $50 per month – less than the cost of a tank of petrol. Seafarers deliver for us every day, it is time we delivered for them."
