Right(s) Up: Wage discrimination is a human rights violation

“The Institute is of the opinion that the EU seafarers and the applicant (Filipino and Indonesian seafarers) have carried out their work under equal or comparable working conditions. They were colleagues who worked on the respondent’s (Dutch shipping companies) seagoing vessels under the same conditions.”

• Context: Filipino and Indonesian seafarers were paid significantly less than the wage of seafarers from the Netherlands or the European Union, applying the ‘country of residence’ principle in remuneration

• Human rights: Economic rights, freedom from discrimination, right to work

• Community impact: The decision of Netherlands Institute for Human Rights to declare the unequal payment based on country of residence as unlawful discrimination on the grounds of nationality and race, could be a precedent for many Filipino and Indonesian seafarers and workers

• Rights-holder: Filipino and Indonesian workers

• Duty-bearer: Dutch government and Dutch shipping companies

The Netherlands Institute for Human Rights ruled in Decision 2025-74 that Maritime Performance B.V. discriminated against a Filipino head chef on the grounds of nationality and race, and that VSO Zwerver I B.V. directly discriminated against an Indonesian seafarer on the ground of nationality. Both ships are sailing under the Dutch flag.

Equal Justice and Equal Pay Foundation and their law office Leflegis represented the Filipino and Indonesian seafarers in the landmark human rights case. They argued that the Dutch shipping companies are paying them significantly less than European-resident counterparts with the same work and conditions on the vessels.

“The Institute is of the opinion that the EU seafarers and the applicant (Filipino and Indonesian seafarers) have carried out their work under equal or comparable working conditions. They were colleagues who worked on the respondent’s (Dutch shipping companies) seagoing vessels under the same conditions,” the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights stated in its decision.

The seafarers aboard the vessels in merchant shipping flying the Dutch flag are subjected to Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for Merchant Shipping. However, Article 3(2) of the CBA states that the wage and employment conditions are different for employees residing in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Ukraine. 

The Dutch shipping companies argued that the remuneration based on “country of residence” is sheltered by customary international law. However, Netherlands Institute for Human Rights argued that the rule only exists if you have both: state practice and opinio juris (legally permitted). The Institutes agrees that the state practice existed in Europe, but it finds no legal permission to do so.

In fact, the Institute cited the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) of 2006 of the International Labor Organization clearly articulating the guiding principle of equal pay for equal work on the same ship.

“Equal remuneration for work of equal value should apply to all seafarers employed on the same ship without discrimination based upon race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin,” stated in the Maritime Labor Convention of the International Labor Organization.

The Philippines ratified the MLC in 2012, Indonesia in 2016, and Netherlands in 2011, holding all these governments accountable for the Convention’s enforcement.

The Dutch companies argued that abolishing the country of residence principle would have negative consequences for the maritime sector (re-flagging) and would lead to overpayment. But the seafarers argue that there are no strong indications that mass re-flagging will transpire if the wages of Filipino seafarers increase.

Moreover, seafarers from Lithuania and Romania are paid the same wages as their European counterparts even if the cost of living in their countries are comparable to the Philippines. (RVO)

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