About 50 customs officers held a picket for an hour and a half in front of the government offices on 27 May 2004 and presented to the government an appeal calling for more resources and priority to be given to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board (Maksu- ja Tolliameti) - which was created in January 2004 by the merger of the previous tax and customs authorities. The Federation of Estonian Customs Officers’ Trade Unions (Eesti Tolliametnike Ametiühingute Liit, ETAL [1]), which organised the protests, argues that, in connection with Estonia joining the EU on 1 May 2004, the importance of the Tax and Customs Board has steeply risen in terms of promoting foreign trade, protecting the eastern border of the EU and preventing and discovering tax evasion and smuggling. Consequently, the requirements and challenges for revenue and customs officers have increased substantially in the form of extra work and responsibilities. The new situation also requests constant self-education by offices, on top of their work, in order to keep up with frequent changes in EU legislation.[1] http://www.zone.ee/amuhing/
On 27 May 2004, the Federation of Estonian Customs Officers’ Trade Unions held a picket outside the government's headquarters. The protesters were demanding a pay rise, in-service training and investments to strengthen customs controls on Estonia's eastern border.
About 50 customs officers held a picket for an hour and a half in front of the government offices on 27 May 2004 and presented to the government an appeal calling for more resources and priority to be given to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board (Maksu- ja Tolliameti) - which was created in January 2004 by the merger of the previous tax and customs authorities. The Federation of Estonian Customs Officers’ Trade Unions (Eesti Tolliametnike Ametiühingute Liit, ETAL), which organised the protests, argues that, in connection with Estonia joining the EU on 1 May 2004, the importance of the Tax and Customs Board has steeply risen in terms of promoting foreign trade, protecting the eastern border of the EU and preventing and discovering tax evasion and smuggling. Consequently, the requirements and challenges for revenue and customs officers have increased substantially in the form of extra work and responsibilities. The new situation also requests constant self-education by offices, on top of their work, in order to keep up with frequent changes in EU legislation.
The protesters also demanded that revenue and customs officers should receive the same minimum wage as police officers (the minimum wage of revenue and customs officers is currently much lower) and that the government should stop freezing the paybill for civil servants. They also demanded more investments in in-service training and a strengthening of customs checks on Estonia's eastern border. Customs officers drew attention to the fact that the government has not yet announced a public procurement exercise to purchase basic technology for the Tax and Customs Board, and that they lack proper working clothes, sniffer dogs and special illumination equipment to examine trucks and containers.
Members of the newest trade union for revenue and customs officers - the Trade Union of Revenue and Customs Officers of Tartu (Tartu Maksu- ja Tolliametnike Ametiühing) - also attended the picket. This union was established just a week before the event. It states that organising a new trade union was necessary to protect employees’ interests because the Tax and Customs Board will certainly undergo major reconstruction.
As ETAL is a member organisation of the Trade Union of State and Self-government Institutions' Workers (Riigi- ja Omavalitsusasutuste Töötajate Ametiühingute Liit, ROTAL), customs officers also took part in a picket held by civil servants on 15 April 2004 (EE0405102N). The issues of increasing the payroll fund for civil servants and equalising the minimum wages of customs officers and police officers were also among the demands of the earlier picket.
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2004), Customs officers protest, article.
