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EUROPEAN REVIEW

ISSUE 33 - Page 2

Dockers on the streets again as Ports Directive resurrected

TRADE UNIONS IN THE PORTS may have thought that they had seen off a dangerous proposal in November 2003 when a vote of the European Parliament killed off a measure to liberalise port services but now a similar would-be directive is back on the table. Currently labelled PP2 it seeks to allow casual and non-union labour to load and unload ships or even the use of seafarers in a practice known as 'self-handling'.

Dockers march in Brussels to protest against the new proposal

Prior to a vote in the parliament's transport committee the European Transport Federation (ETF) organised a demonstration in Brussels attended by several hundred dockers from Belgium, the Netherlands and France. Meanwhile strikes and information meetings were held in Danish, British and German ports while similar actions were taken in Sweden, Spain and Italy. Organising a 2-hour strike in UK ports Graham Stevenson, Transport and General Workers Union national organiser for transport said 'Britain's ports have had more than their fair share of the privatisation and deregulation horse medicine, the last thing we need is the European Commission forcing doses down us'. This was followed by a meeting with European Commission President Barroso attended for the T & G by Mike Gibbons, the General Executive Council member for ports and docks.

The committee rejected amendments that had been put forward to try to make the proposal more aceeptable but referred the unamended version to a full session of the parliament. This is seen as more likely to lead to its rejection although, in the words of the ETF 'European port workers will not hesitate to come back on the street of Strasbourg if it is needed to show their determination to defend their working conditions'.

Commission to tighten up shipping in third directive

ZERO TOLERANCE WAS THE RATHER HACKNEYED WATCHWORD when the European Commission gave notice of its plan to put forward a third legislative package on maritime safety recently. Following the Erika and Prestige oil tanker disasters the EU passed two sets of laws in this area but the Commission and the European Parliament still consider that unscrupulous operators and flags of convenience are undermining those that abide by the regulations. There are seven proposals in the new package covering topics such as consistency among EU states in applying standards, powers and frequency of inspection and banning, traffic monitoring and the provision of places of refuge along the coast, accident investigation and passenger compensation and shipowners' insurance to pay it.

According to Commission Vice-President Jacques Barrot 'Introducing stricter requirements for unscrupulous operators who distort competition, and maintaining high-performing maritime administrations ... will also ensure the high quality of maritime transport'. Disasters at sea will, in future, be treated more like aviation accidents i.e. the aim will be to find out what happened and what future lessons can be learned for health and safety rather than to attribute legal liability. Fishing is identified as one of the most dangerous sectors and the package will make it compulsory for all fishing vessels over 15 metres to install automatic identification systems. The SafeSeaNet data exchange network will be developed to provide precise information on ship movements.

Zero tolerance will be applied to inspections where 100% of all ships in the EU will be the target rather than the 25% that Member States aim for now, with high-risk vessels examined every six months. While 10 ships are currently banned from EU waters, this could rise to at least 200 under the proposals. Financial penalties will also be introduced for the first time. 'There is no such thing as zero risk' said Barrot. 'But we are equipping ourselves as much as we can to prevent another oil spill'.

LATVIAN UNIONS HAVE THROWN light on why employers have sought to use workers from their country as cheap labour abroad (see page 3). Organising a demonstration against poverty in October, the Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia (LBAS) contrasted the high growth rate of the economy (7% annually) and price rises (6.6% in the year to June) with the low standard of living of most of the population. According to LBAS, consumer prices in the country are 55% of the EU average while labour costs are 12.2%. They want a national minimum wage, higher tax thresholds, higher pensions, reduced VAT on fuel, bread and food and accessible healthcare for all.

THE POSTAL SYSTEM IN BELGIUM, which has been beset by disputes over new practices recently, has landed in more controversy with a plan to cut sickness absence. The move concentrates on those workers in their last year before retirement who employers allege 'save up' their sick leave. As well as bonus of €2,100 for those who take less than 30 days, all employees will receive 20% of any savings which the company makes. The retirement age will rise from 57 to 58. Unions representing about 20% of the work force have agreed to the deal but the others have authorised local industrial action after approximately half of all postal workers joined in with a general strike in October.

IN WHAT IS NOW A RARE EXCEPTION but may be the shape of things to come, an international agreement has been concluded between employers and unions. In the merchant shipping industry the International Bargaining Forum (IBF) holds negotiations between about 170 shipping companies and the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) representing about 55,000 seafarers. The deal includes a 10% pay increase over 2 years, free shipboard email and initiatives on job security and the use of non-union dockworkers.

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