The ETUC and ETUFs handed over a petition for more democracy at work to the European Commissioner Nicolas Schmit and MEPs, calling for concrete and rapid actions to guarantee the effective enforcement and compliance of workers’ rights to be informed, consulted and to participate in decision-making before any decision is adopted. 

To alert EU Commissioners to the continuing crisis onboard ships and the urgent need for member states to act, ETF addressed a letter to Commissioners Vălean, Schmit and Johansson. Flag states must ensure the repatriation of seafarers stranded at sea. It is not generosity, but an obligation under maritime law.