In addition to these instruments, several other international maritime labour standards also concern fishermen, including certain standards which apply to seafarers employed on non-fishing vessels operating in support of fishing operations.
Standards for port workers
The ILO has also adopted a number of instruments which specifically concern the social and working conditions of port workers. Most of these instruments have been aimed at improving the safety of dock work. As with the other maritime industries, ILO instruments concerning collective bargaining, the right to organize, etc. also apply to dock work. The instruments specifically concerned with dock work include:
- The Marking of Weight (Packages Transported by Vessels) Convention, 1929 (No. 27);
- The Protection against Accidents (Dockers) Convention (Revised), 1932 (No. 32);
- The Dock Work Convention, 1973 (No. 137); and
- The Occupational Safety and Health (Dock Work) Convention, 1979 (No. 152).
Standards for inland boatmen
The ILO has also adopted one instrument which specifically concerns inland boatmen: the Hours of Work (Inland Navigation) Recommendation, 1920 (No. 8). As noted above, other instruments applying in general to other categories of workers, of course, apply to inland boatmen.
Monitoring and supervising of ILO standards
The ILO Constitution provides for a number of mutually complementary procedures for monitoring the effect given to ILO standards. In addition, direct assistance is also provided to member States through means of action, such as seminars and technical cooperation.
Once a member State has ratified a Convention, it should report to the ILO on the measures taken to give effect to that Convention. The reports of the governments are examined and evaluated by an ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, and subsequently by a special tripartite committee of the International Labour Conference.
