The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) issued a statement regarding the publications that appeared in the media and social networks, as well as statements made by the Union of Captains and Deck Officers (UCOC) on the elimination of the third on the tugboats that assist ships inside the Neopanamax locks in April 2018.
The Canal directive clarified that the third set of locks of the Panama Canal began operations on June 26, 2016, and since before these operations began, as part of the process of familiarizing the workforce with the new operation, the ACP decided to assign a third additional sailor temporarily, both in the Proa (Alfa) and Stern (Delta) tugboats, with the intention of allowing exposure to the process of operating the new locks, despite the fact that the standard crew of the tugboats is two sailors.
They indicate that in 2017, the ACP normalized the operation and returned to the crew of two sailors in the Popa (Delta) tugboats, which we reiterate is the standard practice in the maritime world. It is important to point out that, faced with this decision, no worker filed no complaint or claim.
Later, in April 2018, the ACP decided to also normalize the staffing of two sailors in the Proa (Alfa) tugboats, taking into consideration that the workforce was already familiar with the new operation.
Faced with this decision, some tugboat captains decided not to operate under these conditions, which were already being applied to the Popa (Delta) tugboats, which caused delays that affected the schedule of vessel transit through the Neopanamax locks.
As a consequence of this action, the ACP took the disciplinary administrative measures established by the legal regime of the Panama Canal against these captains, which have been presented before the corresponding legal instances and are still in process.
The ACP mentioned that the instruction to operate the tugboats with two sailors is consistent with what is established in the Maritime Safety Inspection Certificate (CDI) of each tugboat, which states that the minimum crew required for the operation of said vessels is one captain. of motor ships, an assistant machinist for motor ships, and two seamen.
The ruling mentioned in the media does not refer to the claims of the tugboat captains, as has been claimed. What this ruling indicates is that the administrative measure taken in April 2018 was unexpected for the seafarers and meant a change in their working conditions. Marines are not part of the UCOC.
The ACP declared to be respectful of the legal regime of the Canal, and without prejudice to what this ruling decided, it had already complied in 2020 with the respective notification to the unions that represent the tugboat sailors, in order for them to exercise their right to request a negotiation of the impact and implementation of the decision made in 2018.
Given this notification, the Panama Area Metal Trades Council (PAMTC), a union that represents tugboat sailors, requested to negotiate a Special Additional Compensation (CAE) equivalent to 50% of the hourly wage for the two sailors who perform work on board the Proa (Alfa) tugboats in the Neopanamax locks.
The ACP replied that it was willing to negotiate the impact of the implementation of the measure, but not the monetary increase in salary, so the PAMTC filed a negotiability dispute, which is pending a decision before the Supreme Court of Justice. (CSJ).
Title XIV of the Constitution establishes that the Canal will remain open to the peaceful and uninterrupted transit of ships from all nations and that it must function in a safe, continuous, efficient and profitable manner. In addition, in article 92 of the Organic Law of the The Panama Canal Authority stipulates, among other things, that the operation of the Canal may not be interrupted or impaired for any reason.
Having completed seven years of operation of the Neopanamax locks, using two sailors in the Alfa and Delta tugboats, it has been shown that the operation with this standard crew is safe and reliable.
According to the ACP directive, it is not true, as has been mentioned in various publications, that the CSJ’s ruling demonstrates that the operations on the tugboats with three sailors on board is an unsafe operation or that the disciplinary measures applied to tugboat captains have no legal basis.
The Union of Captains and Deck Officers of the Panama Canal, in recent days reported that on June 22, 2022, Chamber III of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ), through a decision confirming resolution No. 3/2020 of November 14, 2019, by which the Labor Relations Board of the Panama Canal declares that the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) committed the causes of unfair labor practice, in relation to the elimination of a third sailor in the ALFA tugboats that assist ships transiting through the third set of locks of the expanded canal.
According to Captain Daniel Camazón, who is part of the Captains, these events were denounced since April 12, 2018 by the Panama Canal Authority, before the national and international media, accusing the tugboat captains of having provoked the interruption of transit through the waterway. The administration announced dismissals and administrative sanctions for captains who, according to their version of events, refused to comply with a supposedly legitimate, clear and documented order.
He added that this unfair labor practice was initially carried out by another union, which is the one from which the sailors were eliminated.
He explained that the tugboat captains were sanctioned from that date and sanctioned without pay and were attacked by the Canal administration.
