Swedish union report: Intoxicated manager threatened to sack Silja Symphony crew
E-mail apology reported; no immediate impact on Tallink shares
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A report by a Swedish trade union alleges that Keijo Mehtonen, the Finnish CEO of the Silja Line shipping line and Tallink Finland, was one of the key figures in an incident last month involving loutish behaviour by corporate managers of the Estonian-owned Tallink shipping line. The alleged incidents occurred during a cruise on the Silja Symphony, which operates between Helsinki and Stockholm.
According to the internal report by the Swedish Union for Service and Communication Employees (SEKO), members of the crew also had to endure violent behaviour and sexual harassment of two Estonian members of the Tallink Board of Directors, Andres Hunt and Enn Pant.
The report quotes a member of the crew, who describes the events during the cruise. The crew member, who remains anonymous for fear of being sacked, hopes that something can be done about the matter.
The Tallink Board of Directors held a meeting on board the Silja Symphony, while it was en route from Helsinki to Stockholm on October 25th. After the meeting and a meal, the board went to the ship's Atlantis Bar.
"After closing time, the board and its entourage refused to leave, and started to serve themselves. The personnel could not allow this. This resulted in an argument, and one of the members of the board, Andres Hunt, hit the bartender in the head with his fist. The bartender was injured", the crew member writes.
Hunt allegedly behaved aggressively toward the others as well. The members of the board moved to another bar which was also closing soon.
"At this point bribes were offered to continue service. When this did not work, board member Keijo Mehtonen spoke up, calling the waitresses Tallink's servants who must obey orders", the account continues.
"The group left the bar, and discussions continued in the ship's office, where Mehtonen made it clear that because of poor service and lack of professional skill among the personnel, the ship's whole crew would soon be changed for a new one, and above all, a cheaper one."
According to the report, the personnel had to guide the members of the crew to their cabins. According to the crew member's account, sexual harassment had also been involved in the events of the wee hours.
In the morning the members of the group arrived at breakfast bringing their own beer and strong spirits with them.
They were so noisy that the other passengers complained.
"In addition, the group tried to prepare toasted fish for themselves from the buffet table, at which point the toaster that they used caught fire. Thanks to quick action by the personnel, the situation was brought under control."
According to the account, the personnel felt helpless to act in the situation.
"Of the members of the Board, Andres Hunt, Keijo Mehtonen, and Enn Pant were the ones who were most involved in the events. They mentioned several times that they owned the ship, and would do whatever they wanted to on it."
On the basis of the written report, SEKO said that it is considering filing a criminal complaint against Silja Line, says the union's chairman Janne Rudén.
He said that a possible cause of action would be the threat to fire the whole personnel, which would be a violation of labour laws. "The top management of a company needs to think a bit what they say."
Rudén says that the case is unique.
"Individual representatives of employers have said some ill-considered things before, but here there was an entire group of managers behaving like a gang of teenagers", Rudén said.
The Finnish News Agency STT reported on Thursday that Mehtonen had sent an e-mail message to the chief of the Silja Symphony apologising for the incident. There were no details of the content of the message.
Tallink headquarters in Tallinn said that a comment on the matter would come on Monday.
Keijo Mehtonen would not return a call on Thursday asking for a comment on the report by the Swedish union.
The scandal did not have any immediate impact on the price of Tallink shares on the Tallinn stock exchange, says Peeter Koppel, head of the stock market section of the Estonian bank SEB Eesti Ühiskank.
Observers in Tallinn considered it was very unlikely that anyone in the Tallink management would have to resign over the incident.
The three executives mentioned by name in the scandal have been with Tallinn ever since the late 1990s when the company's meteoric rise began.
"They get along well together. I don't think they want to fire anyone. If a person brings money into a company, other behaviour can be overlooked", Koppel says.
In Thursday's edition of the Estonian newspaper Eesti Päevaleht, Andres Hunt tried to dance around a journalist's question about the allegation that he had struck a bartender.
"It is not possible to comment on these matters directly, because the question involves a kind of unilateral presentation of information. I do not want to comment, lest there would be a misunderstanding. The matters will be resolved."
Hunt added that the company will discuss the issues with the Swedish union.
Hansapank analyst Sander Danil said that he did not think that the events on the Silja Symphony would have ben worth the brouhaha that has arisen, but now that it has, the delay in comments from the company is harmful.
The Estonian media is taking a serious view of the allegations.
The country's largest daily, Postimees, wrote in its lead editorial that the behaviour of the management of Tallink, which has been called the flagship of Estonia, hurts all Estonian companies.
"The attitude according to which top bosses treat their subordinates as servants is from the Soviet times", Postimees writes.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 10.11.2006 - TODAY |
 Swedish union report: Intoxicated manager threatened to sack Silja Symphony crew |
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