Despite the fact that the profession of a seafarer is considered profitable, respected and promising, it also has a number of its own pitfalls, associated primarily with the employment and work of entire crews or individual team members. In order to protect the interests of such workers, the Russian Professional Union of Seafarers was formed in the fall of 1991, the goal of which to this day remains not only to protect the interests of all who go to sea for long months, but also to unite all members of the seafarers' union. 

    Russian Professional Union of Seafarers - protection and unification

    Today, situations in which seafarers need professional legal, legal or information support can be very different. Thus, an individual member of the ship's crew or an entire team can face the arbitrariness of the ship's owner, who can delay the payment of wages for many days or not pay the earned funds at all. Also, seafarers need help in cases where they have become victims of an industrial injury or have suffered a serious deterioration in health during one of their trips, but the employer refuses to pay financial compensation. 

    Although these are far from all the situations in which a member of the seafarers' union can turn to the union for help, they are encountered more and more often today. In addition, in the Yeysk interclub, which was specially created under the auspices of the Russian professional union of seafarers, each participant and client will be provided with professional assistance in which crewing company to choose in order to avoid problems in employment or long-term work. 

    Today, assistance to seafarers in this professional club is provided in 11 territorial and 59 primary organizations, and the total number of union members is approximately 70,000 seafarers in our country. The fleet that is part of this professional union is quite extensive and includes about 35 countries, under whose flag a professional seaman can work, upon conclusion of the appropriate agreement. The centralized legal service in this union is carried out by qualified specialists, and the agreements that are approved by the ITF are currently in effect on more than 400 ships owned by domestic and foreign owners.

    In order to make the life of seafarers and all club members as comfortable and secure as possible, the Russian professional union of seafarers became a member of a special international federation of maritime workers (ITF). Participation in this program allowed many crews and individual seafarers to feel more confident in solving various difficult situations, and their experience became available to other employees, thanks to the regular release of a periodic information bulletin. 

    In many ways, the effectiveness of this union is achieved not by its organizers or professional workers, but by the participants and ordinary seafarers who share their experience, observations and developments. It is the merchant marine workers who make a significant contribution to the work and development of the professional union, and the regularly published journal Maritime Trade Union Bulletin allows everyone interested in further cooperation to gain valuable experience in solving various issues, litigation, as well as competent and correct preparation of documents related to registration, employment and other aspects of work. 

    The work of the Yeysk interclub, which is one of the branches of the professional union of seafarers, deserves special attention. This club opened in 2006 and since then has been offering all members of the union high-quality assistance and convenient services. Thus, in the Yeisk interclub, sailors can stay for an indefinite period, waiting for the paperwork to be processed and registered for departure on a voyage. Comfortable hotel rooms, cafes, gyms and plenty of opportunities for recreation and entertainment are always available at the interclub for all who are registered members of the union. 

    For the convenience of all sailors, a professional linguistic center has been opened here, where you can quickly and at a high level order the translation of documents into the language of the country under whose flag a crew member will depart on a voyage, as well as into the languages ​​of the countries through which he will pass or stop.

    Those seafarers who were abandoned by unscrupulous employers or found themselves in other difficult situations will be provided with convenient and comfortable housing in the interclub for the entire time while the union workers will resolve issues related to repatriation, insurance payments and full financial settlements with crew members. According to the information bulletin, each year the Yeisk interclub receives about 1,700 seafarers, who are extremely grateful for the warm and cordial welcome.

    Among the old-timers of this club there are real veterans, some of whom are no longer active members of the ships' crews, but can share with younger and inexperienced ones, valuable advice, recommendations and cases from their lives, helping to acquire rich practical experience.