My sincere and warmest greetings to all JSU non-domicile special members. I would like to express my gratitude for your hard work and dedication on board JSU member vessels. It is my most sincere wish that you and your loved ones are always in the best of health.

As I write this message, a glimpse of my past reminds me of my previous life as a seafarer. Being isolated from my family and civilization was very hard on me. That isolation was harder to deal with than my actual job as a seafarer. Ordinary people don't appreciate that the food they eat, the clothes they wear, the energy they use to run factories and homes only exist because of the hard labor and dedication of the seafarers who sail the oceans of the world. It is the seafarers that make possible the movement of cargoes and passengers from one country to another. The seafarers are the backbone of the global economy.

For the past 20 years -- since the JSU started its FOC campaign in cooperation with the Japanese dockworker's union -- the JSU has continued to work very hard to help you, our special members, to protect your rights and provide welfare services that meet international labor standards. The JSU's main priority for special members is to ensure equal rights, regardless of nationality, and to strengthen the stability of employment.
The JSU has already expanded its representation overseas, allowing you easy access to welfare services. We recently added offices in Singapore, Indonesia, and the U.K. (London) to those we already had in Manila, Vietnam, and China.

On November 13, 2003, at the International Bargaining Forum (IBF), the ITF and its affiliates, including the JSU, concluded a new global agreement with employers, represented by the IMMAJ and IMEC. This agreement benefits more than 50,000 seafarers working on FOC vessels around the world.

In December 2003, the JSU launched a project to house special members in Manila awaiting vessel assignments. The JSU also established a language skills-enhancement effort in Vietnam and China that will help seafarers from those nations improve their English.

We know the implementation of the ISPS Code, on July 1, will place further pressure on seafarers' liberty in ports. As your labor union, it is our duty to search for ways in which we can improve your working conditions, social status, and safety.

There are still a lot of things to do and problems left unresolved. No matter how difficult and strenuous it proves to find and achieve the right solution to your problems, the JSU remains committed to serving you in every possible manner.

It is my fervent hope that this new publication will serve as a good source of information and a means by which to strengthen the bond between you and the All Japan Seamen's Union. Let us join our hands together and be united as one in facing the road ahead.
May your journeys always deliver you safely to your families.

Capt. Sakae Idemoto, President, All Japan Seamen's Union