Threatened strike may freeze all icebreakers

Harbour strike postponed by two weeks

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The Finnish Seamen’s Union has announced a strike threat involving icebreakers and ferries going between the archipelago.
     
The potential strike would start in two weeks, after which the breaking of ice would grind to a halt when vessels return to ports.
      The threatened industrial action would stall paretically all of Finland’s sea transport, as only a small proportion of ships can cope with the ice conditions without the help of an icebreaker.
      Negotiations on a new collective agreement were suspended on Friday. The present contract will expire at the end of this month.
     
The other side in the negotiations is Arctia Shipping Ltd, a state-owned enterprise providing icebreaker services, which started operations on January 1st 2010.
      Arctia Shipping owns the only fleet of icebreakers in Finnish waters. In the Archipelago Sea the company operates 11 ferries.
     
At present, the company is implementing cost-cutting measures as well as co-determination talks involving the entire staff.
     Simo Zitting, the chairman of the Seamen’s Union, says that ”the frenzy of tendering and privatisation has come to the end of the road”.
      ”Ice-breaking is no business. It is a duty, the purpose of which is to make sure that ships can sail even in the winter”, Zitting argues.
      According to Zitting, the contract between the state and Arctia Shipping does not cover the costs of ice-breaking, which is why the dimensions of the contract have to be reconsidered.
     
Arctia Shipping has signed a contract on seven icebreakers with the Finnish Transport Agency, a government agency responsible for Finnish land and sea transport network infrastructure.
      ”The state has to make realistic contracts”, Zitting adds, claiming that the state has caused the present standoff situation.
     Zitting implies that it would be easy to settle the question of salary hikes at a moderate level, if the finances of Arctia Shipping were secured first.
      Tero Vauraste, the Managing Director of Arctia Shipping, believes that the negotiations will continue, with both parties continuing to seek a settlement. The talks are to resume on the initiative of the National Conciliator.
      According to Vauraste, the cost-cutting measures are to affect the entire cost structure, not only the personnel costs.
      ”For the time being we do not have any financial crisis, as our cash position is sound”, notes Vauraste.
     
Arctia’s goal is that the ice-breaking business will reach the same cost level as the other Finnish shipping companies have, Vauraste says.
      According to Arctia, the company’s labour costs are as much as 30 per cent higher than the corresponding costs of its rivals.
     
At the same time, the planned stoppage by stevedores at Finnish harbours that was to begin next Friday has been postponed by two weeks.
      Minister of Labour Anni Sinnemäki (Green League) decided yesterday to approve National Conciliator Esa Lonka’s proposal to schedule the threatened strike for the beginning of March, as it is feared that the stoppage could halt Finland’s exports almost entirely.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Threatened transport strike could have serious knock-on effects (15.2.2010)
  Severe ice situation costs Finland dear (5.2.2010)

Links:
  Arctia Shipping Ltd.
  The Finnish Seamen’s Union

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