Former International Shipping Federation (ISF) official and pioneer for seafarers’ labor rights David Dearsley has passed away.
Before the merger with the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), Dearsley was Deputy Secretary General of the International Shipping Federation (ISF), for which he worked from the mid-1970s until 2003. He passed away at the age of 79, as the ICS has now announced.
The official had started his career at sea – “something he was very proud of”. The obituary states that he “shaped the current landscape of labor relations in international shipping and the excellent relations between maritime employers worldwide and seafarers’ unions like no other”.
It particularly highlights his role as one of the architects of the ILO’s Maritime Labor Convention of 2006, a landmark agreement between representatives of shipping companies, trade unions and governments. Dearsley was also instrumental in the IMO negotiations that led to the fundamental revision of the STCW Convention, which the ISF had persuaded the International Maritime Organization to adopt in the early 1990s. The ICS and ISF had previously merged in 1990.
“David was also instrumental in the development of the International Maritime Employers’ Council (IMEC) – which he chaired in the 1980s as the London Committee – Asian Seamen – into the major employers’ organization that today conducts global collective bargaining directly with the ITF and has a positive impact on the wages and working conditions of most seafarers in developing countries,” writes the ICS.
As a leading expert and practitioner in the field of maritime labor relations, he has always been a tireless advocate for the interests of maritime employers, to whom he has dedicated his entire career ashore. “However, David firmly believed that it was always in the best interests of shipping companies to improve working conditions on board for their seafarers, particularly those from the Indian subcontinent and the Philippines, where he had many good friends and colleagues whom he continued to visit after his retirement.”
The ISF was founded in 1909. Originally conceived as a strikebreaking organization, it responded to the growth of organized labor and seamen’s unions in the 20th century. However, the ISF only developed its later identity in the 1920s after the founding of the International Labor Organization (ILO) in 1919. After the first special ILO maritime conference in 1920, the ISF took over the coordination of the national shipowners’ representatives at the ILO meetings. Its counterpart was the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF). Since the 1970s, the ISF’s remit had expanded to include other concerns of maritime employers, including training standards and welfare issues. This reflects the increase in the number of seafarers from developing countries. The ISF also played an important role in representing maritime employers to the IMO, particularly with regard to seafarer competence standards.
