Photo by Roy Ervin Solstad
I have been asked to post this by Svein Lundeng &
Dockers Hangarounds
on behalf of the Norway Dockers
On Friday, September 1, the harbor workers raised the pirate flag in Oslo harbor (the picture above), and indicated that the companies in the capital still shut out those who are legally entitled to the job of unloading and loading ships.
Transport workers federated and NHO recently agreed on a new collective agreement. Does it mean that the danger that Oslo port will be declared as a pirate port is over? And that the harbor workers in Oslo, Tromsø, Mosjøen and Stavanger are soon in work again?
We can hope. But it remains to be seen whether the new collective agreement clears the road after four years of conflicts in Norwegian ports. There are many wounds to be taught.
It will be exciting to see what the National Assembly in Transport Workers' Union will say about the situation in Norwegian ports. The national meeting begins Tuesday, September 26th.
In a joint press release from the parties, it states that "The new collective agreement provides equal pay and working conditions in terminal companies and for unloading and warehousing, and includes both permanent employees, hired workers, temporary employees and temporary staff."
In December 2016, the Supreme Court issued a verdict not only depriving the harbor workers of their collective combats, but made the collective agreement illegal. The verdict subordinate the ILO Convention 137, which secured the Dockworkers preferential treatment, for the EEA Agreement. EEA Agreement Trumped Professional Rights Workers take for granted here in Norway.
The Supreme Court judgment of December 2016 resulted in the Transport Workers Association in January settling the boycott of the Risavika terminal (Stavanger) and the sympathy strikes in Tromsø and Mosjøen. The harbor workers in these three towns are still unemployed today.
In Oslo, harbor workers are also banned from most of their jobs. They are now fighting a fight for the operators / companies at the port, who still refuse to use them, to respect the ILO Convention, which gives them the preferential right to unload and load ships. Still, Yilport, who drives the Container Port in Oslo, is boycotted by the Transport Workers Association because they refuse to join a collective agreement.
The International Transport Workers 'Federation (ITF) pre-approved before the summer that Oslo port can be declared as a Port of Convenience (POC) if the Norwegian transport workers' federations consider it necessary. Getting such a stamp will be something Norwegian politicians will not be happy for. What it means to be declared a convenience port is not in the day, but it would be a powerful signal that something is wrong in Oslo harbor.
This summer, harbor workers have documented a number of times through video footage that seamen on ships have been unloading and loading goods at the port. And in order to make progress in the effort to get their jobs back, the harbor workers carried out a symbolic lifting of a pirate flag in the harbor on 1 September. The hope was to put more pressure on the city council in Oslo so that they take the necessary steps towards the companies in the harbor that still use other than registered dockers to unload and load boats. Oslo's port workers are on the move and mobilize for their jobs, respect for professional rights, and, in particular, arrange relations at the port of the capital.
A meeting was held in Oslo City Hall on the day before (31.8) Transport Workers' Union and the Seamen's Association were present, together with, among others, the chairman of the LO, Hans Christian Gabrielsen, City Council leader Raymond Johansen and City Council Geir Lippestad. It did not prevent the execution of the action on the dock, but after the meeting, the municipality issued a press release stating that ILO Convention 137 gives registered harbor workers the preferential right to unload and load ships and that these rules must be followed. Seamen shall not be used for unloading and loading ships, social dumping will not be tolerated.
To the Transport Worker, City Council Geir Lippestad said he expects operators to follow up. Perhaps especially because a new collective agreement has now been negotiated for use throughout the Norwegian coast.
"I am pleased that the parties have agreed and that we have established that ILO 137 is to be followed. We are very clear about that, says Geir Lippestad to the Transport Worker.
There is now (perhaps) light in the tunnel for the harbor workers. But ... Neither jobs nor professional rights will come by itself or descend from heaven. Nor after the new tariff agreement has been signed. If the pirate flag hangs over the Oslo port permanently will be settled during the next month. There is a lot that needs to be done in getting port workers to come back to work.
There is hard union and political work that remains and there can be no long breaks in mobilization. Supporters in Oslo and the rest of the country(and unions world wide) must give the helping hand needed and show their solidarity.
Original article by Vegard Holm:
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