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The Conference— 1. Strongly urges all States Members to consider the desirability of instituting, after consultation with the representative organizations of seafarers and with the shipowners or shipowners' organizations concerned, such systems, taking into account practices and arrangements normally in force in the respective States and in accordance with the following general principles : (a) The general purpose should be to provide for the establishment and maintenance of national schemes for promoting regularity and continuity of employment of seafarers and in so doing to consider the possibility of providing for the payment of allowance to seafarers during intervals between periods of normal employment: (b) Each national scheme should apply to seafarers who are nationals of or domiciled in the country in question and are ordinarily engaged in that country for service in sea-going' ships, with such limited exceptions as regards men and ships as may be considered essential by the competent national authority: (c) Seafarers and shipowners should undertake to collaborate fully in such a national scheme and to accept all the obligations compliance with which may be necessary for the proper working of the system: (d) The competent authority should make such arrangements as may be necessary to co-ordinate the national Scheme with any existing unemployment insurance system in the country. 2. Expresses the hope that the question of promoting regularity and continuity of employment for seafarers in accordance with the principles outlined above should at an early date be considered by a Maritime Session of the International Labour •Conference with a view to the adoption of a Convention on the subject. 3. Invites all States Members to inform the International Labour Office of -developments regarding the promotion of schemes referred to above. TEXT OF THE CONVENTION (No. 76) CONCERNING WAGES, HOURS OF WORK ON BOARD SHIP AND MANNING The General Conference of the International Labour Organization, Having been convened at Seattle by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and having met in its Twenty-eighth Session on 6 June 1946, and Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals concerning wages, hours of work on board ship and manning, which is the ninth item on the agenda of the session, and Considering that these proposals involve a complete revision of the Hours of Work and Manning (Sea) Convention, 1936, and must take the form of a Convention, adopts this twenty-ninth day of June of the year one thousand nine hundred and forty-six the following Convention, which may be cited as the Wages, Hours of Work and Manning .(Sea) Convention, 1946 : Part I.—General Provisions Article 1 Nothing in this Convention shall be deemed to prejudice any provision concerning wages, hours of work on board ship, or manning, by law, award, custom or agreement between shipowners and seafarers, which ensures the seafarers conditions more favourable than those provided for by this Convention.

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