I have been asked to post this by Svein Lundeng and
Dockers Hangarounds on behalf of the Norway Dockers
Update from Mosjøen Transportforening
(MTAF)
Greetings and salutations to our supporters and friends throughout the world, we the 17 dockworkers in Mosjoen Norway have now been illegally locked out from our place of work for almost two years.
A quick recap of the situation is that Grieg Logistics held back salary payments until we were forced to act and stop work on the vessel M/S Uta on the 8th of May 2014.
(MTAF)
Greetings and salutations to our supporters and friends throughout the world, we the 17 dockworkers in Mosjoen Norway have now been illegally locked out from our place of work for almost two years.
A quick recap of the situation is that Grieg Logistics held back salary payments until we were forced to act and stop work on the vessel M/S Uta on the 8th of May 2014.
The response was swift and severe; Alcoa withdrew our ISPS clearance thus locking us out and to add insult to injury we were replaced in an instant by members of the union IndustriEnergi and like that it stands today almost two years later.
Even though we are at a standstill after nearly two years we are optimistic that fairness and justice will prevail and that we will emerge victorious from our ordeal.
Even though we are at a standstill after nearly two years we are optimistic that fairness and justice will prevail and that we will emerge victorious from our ordeal.
In the last two years we have witnessed that that our adversaries are prepared to use just about any dirty trick there is to smear us and have their way, they show total disregard to signed agreements, to safety procedures and to their workers life and limbs.
All of this is just to further strengthen our resolve as it is crystal clear that we must win this fight, if not for us then for workers everywhere. This simply cannot stand.
There has in the past two weeks been put up a blockade against NorLines in Tromsoe by blocking loading and unloading operations with ships from Hurtigruten AS.
This has been hugely successful and so much so that Hurtigruten decided to show their true colors and flee to a fenced off part of the docks for their activities and thus labeling themselves as scabs.
The conflict and the blockade have both been deemed legal by Norwegian courts. The support felt both in word and action from over 60 different national and international unions in Tromsoe is truly heartwarming and should show our counterparts just how far reaching and deep our resolve is.
All of this is just to further strengthen our resolve as it is crystal clear that we must win this fight, if not for us then for workers everywhere. This simply cannot stand.
There has in the past two weeks been put up a blockade against NorLines in Tromsoe by blocking loading and unloading operations with ships from Hurtigruten AS.
This has been hugely successful and so much so that Hurtigruten decided to show their true colors and flee to a fenced off part of the docks for their activities and thus labeling themselves as scabs.
The conflict and the blockade have both been deemed legal by Norwegian courts. The support felt both in word and action from over 60 different national and international unions in Tromsoe is truly heartwarming and should show our counterparts just how far reaching and deep our resolve is.
We know that this is a fight we cannot lose and to our delight more and more are coming to that realization as well. The blockade is to be the first of many actions taken to force our counterpart to the table.
For almost three years NTF has tried to negotiate with NHO and find a middle ground only to be stalled time and again, to have promises of new CBAs broken and all efforts thwarted at the finish line.
While NTF has negotiated in good faith NHO’s agents and lawyers have been busy trying to bypass ILO 137 and get local port authorities to sign off on giving companies exclusive user rights over port areas.
Another strategy has been to put the existing dockworkers up against the wall and force them to apply for jobs at the companies operating on the docks and thus binding ILO 137 to the companies them selves instead of the workers as originally intended.
For almost three years NTF has tried to negotiate with NHO and find a middle ground only to be stalled time and again, to have promises of new CBAs broken and all efforts thwarted at the finish line.
While NTF has negotiated in good faith NHO’s agents and lawyers have been busy trying to bypass ILO 137 and get local port authorities to sign off on giving companies exclusive user rights over port areas.
Another strategy has been to put the existing dockworkers up against the wall and force them to apply for jobs at the companies operating on the docks and thus binding ILO 137 to the companies them selves instead of the workers as originally intended.
When asked about signed CBAs and such the answer is: There is a CBA but we choose to not practice it.
Are Kjensli director for the logistics wing of NHO said in a radio interview on the 7th of March 2016 that it wasn’t in line with the times that boat crews arrive in Norwegian ports and do nothing; they could of course load and unload the ship.
This is the essence of the fight and now finally NHO comes out and says what we knew all along, they are going to take the jobs from Norwegian workers and give it to FOC crews for a few dollars a day.
Forget about all the corporate buzzwords like efficiency, streamlining and cost cutting, this is unmasked greed and exploitation and it must be stopped at all costs.
Are Kjensli director for the logistics wing of NHO said in a radio interview on the 7th of March 2016 that it wasn’t in line with the times that boat crews arrive in Norwegian ports and do nothing; they could of course load and unload the ship.
This is the essence of the fight and now finally NHO comes out and says what we knew all along, they are going to take the jobs from Norwegian workers and give it to FOC crews for a few dollars a day.
Forget about all the corporate buzzwords like efficiency, streamlining and cost cutting, this is unmasked greed and exploitation and it must be stopped at all costs.
The situation at the Rio Tinto plant in Straumsvik Iceland has grabbed some headlines in the past few weeks where export ban on aluminum has been partly circumvented by the plant leadership taking over the dockworkers jobs.
Even though this is perfectly legal by Icelandic law it is thoroughly unethical that the top leadership who earns as much in a month as regular crew does in a year takes over jobs from striking workers trying to improve their situation.
It’s nothing more than a show of contempt and arrogance by those at the very top of the corporate ladder to park their luxury SUVs at the docks to try and sabotage the efforts of the people who work for them, it is wrong plain and simple.
The response to this by international labor organizations such as IndustriALL has been noticeable and will hopefully help to force Rio Tinto’s leadership to the negotiation table and find an acceptable solution.
We in Mosjoen can find certain similarities to our situation and how it is at Rio Tinto in Iceland, except that those who took over our jobs don’t make a year’s salary in a month, they don’t drive brand new luxury SUVs and most important of all they pay their dues to IndustriEnergi who again is a member of IndustriALL.
It’s nothing more than a show of contempt and arrogance by those at the very top of the corporate ladder to park their luxury SUVs at the docks to try and sabotage the efforts of the people who work for them, it is wrong plain and simple.
The response to this by international labor organizations such as IndustriALL has been noticeable and will hopefully help to force Rio Tinto’s leadership to the negotiation table and find an acceptable solution.
We in Mosjoen can find certain similarities to our situation and how it is at Rio Tinto in Iceland, except that those who took over our jobs don’t make a year’s salary in a month, they don’t drive brand new luxury SUVs and most important of all they pay their dues to IndustriEnergi who again is a member of IndustriALL.
It is one thing when corporate leadership tries to undermine its striking workers but when other union members treat you the same way it should be a good reason to stop and think matters over.
Since the beginning of organized labor we have had one thing that never fails in our struggle for a better life; Solidarity has been the big trump card since workers began forming unions; that we fight for each other.
IndustrEnergi’s stance in this has been disappointing to say the least and their actions in Mosjoen speak for themselves.
There is however light in the tunnel as some of their members have voiced their disdain on how IndustriEnergi has behaved in this matter, one can only hope IndustriEnergi’s leadership will turn around and do the right thing.
On February the 16. our chairman Mr. Roger Hansen resigned from his position and was replaced by vice chairman Mr.Lars Johansen.
We would like to use the opportunity to thank Mr. Hansen for his efforts on our behalf and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.
NTF has with its new chairman has already warned that we will be stepping up actions against NHO and corporations in breach of our CBA and ILO 137. The only way forward is to keep pressing on with our demand that CBAs and International Law are respected by all parts.
There is no such thing as surrender in this fight because then all working people lose. It just cannot and will not happen.
With the greatest respect and gratitude to our supporters throughout the world;
Yours in Solidarity, the members of MTAF, Mosjøen Norway.
Since the beginning of organized labor we have had one thing that never fails in our struggle for a better life; Solidarity has been the big trump card since workers began forming unions; that we fight for each other.
IndustrEnergi’s stance in this has been disappointing to say the least and their actions in Mosjoen speak for themselves.
There is however light in the tunnel as some of their members have voiced their disdain on how IndustriEnergi has behaved in this matter, one can only hope IndustriEnergi’s leadership will turn around and do the right thing.
On February the 16. our chairman Mr. Roger Hansen resigned from his position and was replaced by vice chairman Mr.Lars Johansen.
We would like to use the opportunity to thank Mr. Hansen for his efforts on our behalf and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.
NTF has with its new chairman has already warned that we will be stepping up actions against NHO and corporations in breach of our CBA and ILO 137. The only way forward is to keep pressing on with our demand that CBAs and International Law are respected by all parts.
There is no such thing as surrender in this fight because then all working people lose. It just cannot and will not happen.
With the greatest respect and gratitude to our supporters throughout the world;
Yours in Solidarity, the members of MTAF, Mosjøen Norway.
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