Icelandic Sailors Are Being Replaced En Masse With Low-Paid Foreigners
On Monday, the shipowners and boatswains of the Icelandic Seamen’s Association began an indefinite strike on three Eimskip vessels, which is still ongoing. Eimskip says it is regrettable that no agreement has been reached and that the extent of the damage from the actions is not known. Work has been done to minimize the impact of the strike on customers.
Bergur Þorkelsson, chairman of the Icelandic Seamen’s Association, says there is still considerable disagreement between the contracting parties. The parties to the dispute met with the state mediator last week, but no other meeting has been called there or between the parties to the dispute, Eimskip, the Confederation of Icelandic Employers and the Seamen’s Association.
The strike involves the container ships Brúarfoss, Dettifoss and Selfoss. Bergur says the dispute is not about wages but about the crewing of the ships, and in particular that Eimskip laid off Icelandic crew members last year and instead chartered a foreign ship with a foreign crew.
“This is about crewing, they sold a ship last year and laid off the entire crew, Icelandic, and chartered a ship with a foreign crew. It is being replaced.”
In total, Eimskip operates nine ships and only three of them are currently crewed by Icelandic crews. Foreign crews are paid considerably less than Icelandic sailors and this also has an impact.
“We want a guarantee for crewing on a certain number of ships, with Icelandic crews. We are defending the space of Icelandic sailors,” Bergur says in an interview with a news agency.
Affects Shipping Schedule
In a statement from Eimskip on Monday, when the strike began, it was stated that the strike would affect the company’s shipping schedule and services, but that it had worked systematically to prepare for this scenario to minimize disruptions to customer service as much as possible.
“The company’s port operations and other operations are on a normal course. Last week, an agreement was reached between the Confederation of Icelandic Employers (SA), on behalf of Eimskip, and the Icelandic Confederation of Labor regarding dock workers in Sundahöfn, and the planned strike there was canceled,” the statement says, adding that negotiations on the wages and conditions of dockers and boatmen are still ongoing through the mediation of the state mediator.
“Eimskip regrets that agreements were not reached before the strike and hopes that agreements will be reached as soon as possible,” it concludes.
Vilhelm Már Þorsteinsson, CEO of Eimskip, said in an interview with mbl.is yesterday that the company’s policy is to operate a mixed fleet and that all seafarers on its own container ships, Brúarfoss, Dettifoss and Selfoss, are employed according to Icelandic collective agreements. He said it was unclear how much damage would be caused by the actions.
Source: Vísir (in Icelandic)