Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Fishermen's Articles of Agreement Convention, 1959 (No. 114) - Spain (Ratification: 1961)

Articles 3 to 11 of the Convention. Fishermen’s articles of agreement. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s confirmation that the employment relationships of fishers are regulated by the Workers’ Statute, and that no other legal provisions apply to them. Regarding the requirement that articles of agreement are to be concluded in writing, pursuant to Article 3 of the Convention, the Government indicates that section 8 of the Workers’ Statute lists the cases in which the employment contract must be established in writing. These include apprenticeship contracts, part-time contracts and certain fixed-term contracts. Articles of agreement for maritime fishing, however, are not included in this list. The Government also refers to Royal Decree No. 1424/2002 of 27 December 2002 which regulates communication to the public employment services of the content of employment contracts and copies thereof, as well as the use of telematics to this end. However, the Committee notes that the Royal Decree provides only for the communication of the content of employment contracts, without requiring that they be concluded in writing in all circumstances. Section 1 of the Decree, in fact, provides that the obligation for employers to communicate the content of employment contracts concluded by them applies “whether or not these must be formalized in writing”. The Government also mentions Royal Decree No. 1659/1998 of 24 July 1998 to apply section 8(5) of the Workers’ Statute which deals with information for workers on the main elements of the employment contract. The Committee notes that, while communication of this information is certainly useful and contributes to the protection of the workers, the provisions of this Royal Decree and of section 8(5) of the Workers’ Statute do not give effect to the provisions of the Convention regarding the formalities for concluding fishers’ articles of agreement and the particulars they must contain. Nor are the legal requirements relating to the crew list and book service, to which the Government also refers, any more likely to ensure implementation of the Convention.

Consequently, the Committee can only note with concern that the current legislation does not ensure application of the main provisions of the Convention that address, in particular, the obligation to conclude fishers’ articles of agreement in writing and the particulars they are bound to contain. It urges the Government rapidly to take the necessary measures to bring its legislation into conformity with the Convention, the requirements of which are to a large extent reproduced in the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No. 188), which is the consolidated and up-to-date instrument in this area.