In August 2000, the Finnish Seafarers' Union reached an agreement, following conciliation, which ended its dispute with a shipowner over the use of Polish workers. Under the deal, the pay and conditions of the Polish seafarers will be increased nearer to Finnish levels.
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In August 2000, the Finnish Seafarers' Union reached an agreement, following conciliation, which ended its dispute with a shipowner over the use of Polish workers. Under the deal, the pay and conditions of the Polish seafarers will be increased nearer to Finnish levels.
The dispute between the Finnish Seafarers' Union (Suomen Merimies-Unioni, SM-U) and a shipowning company concerning the latter's use of foreign labour was resolved in August 2000. In the conflict, SM-U had boycotted two cargo vessels as a protest against the hiring of Polish workers (FI0008156F). The situation had been complicated by the fact that the Finnish Ship Officers' Association (Suomen Laivanpäällystöliitto, SLPL) and the Finnish Engineers' Association (Suomen Konepäällystöliitto, SKL) signed collective agreements with the shipowner to cover the Polish seafarers, bypassing SM-U. SM-U considered this as a threat to Finnish seafarers and sought to negotiate agreements to cover the foreign workers itself. The shipowner concerned considered the boycott illegal. After the boycott started, the dispute went to conciliation by the national conciliator, Juhani Salonius.
The dispute was resolved in August after the shipowner and SM-U approved the national conciliator's proposal and signed an agreement. This deal improves the pay and conditions for the Polish workers, though they still fall short of the Finnish norm. Under the agreement, which runs until 28 February 2003, the Polish seafarers will work on board for two months and then have one month off (paid), whereas their Finnish counterparts work one month on and one month off. The new arrangements will apply to the vessels that were boycotted and do not have a Finnish crew, plus three additional vessels, should the shipowner transfers them to the Finnish flag. The agreement with SM-U covers only crew members, whereas the earlier agreement with SLPL and SKL applies only to officers.
The parties agree that the solution reached creates good opportunities for maintaining the Finnish merchant fleet under the Finnish flag and ensuring the jobs of Finnish seafarers. Furthermore, by concluding the agreement, the shipowner concerned achieved the cost savings assumed in the subsidy package for merchant shipping (including tax breaks) granted by the government in July 2000 (FI0007154N).
Eurofound anbefaler, at denne publikation citeres på følgende måde.
Eurofound (2000), Foreign labour dispute resolved in merchant shipping, article.
