This site is part of the Informa Connect Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 3099067.

Crew Connect Global Conference & Exhibition

Jacqueline Smith
Maritime Coordinator at International Transport Workers' Federation
Speaker

Profile

Jacqueline Smith joined the ITF in October 2014 as the Maritime Coordinator. Prior to joining the ITF Jacqueline had the honour of leading the Norwegian Seafarers’ Union (NSU) and its 11,000 members for almost 8 years.


Jacqueline became an active member of the NSU in 1992 as a shop steward, securing a collective bargaining agreement for concessionaries, a first for the union. In 1998 she was elected as a delegate to congress, then as a deputy on the national board, immediately followed by being invited to be the assistant director dealing with cruise ships in Miami, USA. In 2002 she was asked to stand as elected secretary, so returned to Oslo, Norway. Jacqueline was then elected NSU president in 2006 and re-elected in 2010.


Since joining the ITF Jacqueline has continued to strive to ensure that seafarers internationally are covered by collective agreements and that they are upheld and enforced, as well as being totally committed to not losing national cabotage so that national seafarers can continue to operate in their own waters. As well as supporting seafarers, Jacqueline works with the other maritime sections to improve the working lives of all maritime workers, ensuring minimum standards in global network terminals for dock workers and collective bargaining agreements for dep sea fishers.


In March 2021 Jacqueline became a member of the World Maritime University (WMU) Executive Board.

Jaqueline began her career as a croupier on board the Norwegian ferry company Color Line. After around eight years she was offered a position for the Norwegian Seafarers' Union in their service office in Miami.

During the last twelve years, she has been in the elected leadership of the Union, the first four as Elected Secretary and eight years as the President and now she has decided to step down and pursue new endeavours in the international trade union movement.

Jaqueline was the first ever female president and the youngest to ever get elected. She wll also be the first ever female to take on the role as Maritime Coordinator for the ITF.

At this event