Fafo-report 2010:30

Torunn Kvinge and Anne Mette Ødegård

Protectionism or legitimate protection?

On public regulation of pay and working conditions in Norwegian maritime cabotage

ISBN 978-82-7422-750-75
ISSN 0801-6143
2010

Web edition (pdf 591kb) * More publications on this subject

The purpose of this report is to review the premises for governments’ actions to secure equal treatment for foreign and native seamen who are working on ships operating in Norwegian domestic traffic. Domestic traffic includes transportation of passengers and goods between Norwegian ports, as well as offshore transportation.
The report presents a description of the existing international and national regulations. As part of the EU’s internal market through the EEA Agre ement, Norway has to get in line with the EU’s regulations in this area. We try to explore what kind of consequences these regulations imply for domestic traffic and we also point out possibilities that are not yet tested. One of the tools might be to change the Act on General Application of Collective Agreements in order to include ships registered in EU countries. Questions about how this can be carried out need further examination.

Norway has traditionally pursued a very open and non-discriminating policy with regard to its internal waters. The report shows that many other nations have strong cabotage regulations when it comes to protecting domestic working conditions. The possible demarcation line between legitimate worker protection and protectionism is discussed at the end of the report.