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The port operator APM Terminals Gothenburg today rejected all demands from the Swedish Dockworkers' Union, which organizes 85% of the dockworkers at the container terminal. We are now forced to increase the pressure and step up industrial action to resolve the problems in the workplace.
As of 14.00 today, the dockworkers in the biggest port in Scandinavia are on strike. We need your support. Do you support the strike? Like and share!
About a year ago, APM Terminals Gothenburg adopted a very aggressive new personnel policy. The terminal management has shown absolutely no respect or concern for it's employees, and has been unwilling to compromise in the extended negotiations that have dragged on since last winter.
Our demands to APM Terminals are of a very basic nature:
GUARANTEE TRADE UNION RIGHTS
The SDU demands written guarantees that the company will grant trade unions the right to freely form its’ negotiating delegations and to continuously inform its’ members on current issues and developments. Company dictates, interferences and sanctions must end.
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RESPECT THE JURISDICTION AND THE RIGHT TO OUR JOBS
The SDU demands an immediate stop to the company’s practice of sporadically delegating dockworkers’ or mooring crew’s tasks to manage reefers or secure ships to other parts of the workforce.
HONOR STANDING AGREEMENTS
The SDU demands that dockworkers who were promised compensation for extra work hours during a period of changing work patterns be paid immediately.


STOP USING SICK OR AGING CASUAL DOCKWORKERS AS BARGAINING CHIPS
The SDU demands their 60-year old member immediately receives previously agreed upon retraining for less physically demanding tasks. All cynical counter-demands for collective ¨no strike”-clauses or concessions regarding terms and conditions must be dropped.
RE-ESTABLISH SYSTEMATIC HEALTH & SAFETY COOPERATION
The SDU demands written guarantees of union H&S officer participation in all future risk assessments and accident enquiries involving blue-collar workers.
ACKNOWLEDGE VALID LAWS AND CONTRACTS CONCERNING VACATION, PARENTAL LEAVE AND TIME BANK APPLICATIONS
The SDU demands written guarantees that APMT will henceforth adhere to the time limits and rules in the Annual Leave Act, the Parental Leave Act, and the local time bank CBA. The stress and pressure inflicted on dockworker families due to delayed decisions and unlawful rejections this summer cannot be repeated.

Posting this on behalf of the above and Svein Lundeng


Swedish Dockworkers Stage Strike at APM Terminals Gothenburg


Image Courtesy: Swedish Dockworkers UnionImage Courtesy: Swedish Dockworkers Union
Swedish Dockworkers Union (SDU), which includes 85% of the dockworkers at the Gothenburg terminal, launched the latest round of industrial actions at Sweden’s port of Gothenburg after the week-long negotiations with the terminal operator failed.
APM Terminals said that the strike, which was launched at 14:00 today, is scheduled to last until 11:00 on November 18 and will result in reduced service capacity at the terminal.
The strike follows a blockade which was set to come into force on November 8 and last until December 31, 2016. The industrial action includes both new strikes and a ban on all overtime work, SDU said.
The main points on the union’s list of demands, apart from the demand for a separate collective agreement, involve deciding the number of people who take part in negotiations, as well as other issues relating to amenities at the terminal.
Additionally, in case the dispute drags on, SDU asked dockworkers around the world “to consider all legal and viable actions in your home countries and ports against Maersk containers, Maersk vessels, and Maersk terminals to increase the economic cost the Maersk Group bites for maintaining their current anti-union policies in Gothenburg.”
Earlier this year the union organized a number of industrial actions as a result of failed talks with APM Terminals’ representatives to find a middle ground on the pending issues.
The Gothenburg container terminal has experienced problems since APM Terminals (APMT) obtained the concession, according to SDU. Repeated disputes have reportedly led to a drop in market share from 57% of the Swedish container market to 45% in a few years.
World Maritime News Staff

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