News from the web-page of ITF

New president for the European Transport Workers’ Federation

16 March 2012

Swedish unionist Lars Lindgren was this week elected to the presidency of the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), the ITF’s European arm, following a meeting of the ETF executive committee in Brussels.

Lindgren, a trucker by profession, has been working for the Swedish Transport Workers’ Union for more than 25 years. Currently the union’s president and general secretary, he has also held the positions of international secretary and local union official. Politically active at local parliament level in his home county, Lindgren is also a member of the executive board of the Swedish Trade Union Confederation, LO.

His numerous ITF positions include: executive board member, vice-chairman of the dockers’ section, and member of the ITF international bargaining forum negotiating team. He is also a member of the ETF executive committee and of the Nordic Transport Workers’ Federation executive board and management committee.

Lindgren commented: “There lies a huge task ahead of us, in a Europe where more and more people are struggling to preserve what was obtained in the past, let alone to improve their living and working conditions. But it is worth the fight and I truly believe that the ETF can make a difference and has already proved its power many times. I am honored to become president of such a strong federation and play an important role in defending our members all over Europe.”

Eduardo Chagas, ETF general secretary, added: “I welcome Lars Lindgren’s wide experience in the transport sector and in the international trade union movement. Today’s decision shows our internal strength and it also allows the ETF to immediately focus again on the preparation of the May 2013 ETF congress and in preparing the ETF response to the external challenges transport workers are facing and fight united for a social Europe.”

Lindgren succeeds Graham Stevenson, who was the ETF’s president from 2009 to 2011.

Raid on dockers’ union offices in Costa Rica

16 March 2012

  

Authorities in Costa Rica earlier this week raided the premises of a dockers’ union in what has been described as an “indisputable example of abuse of power”.

On 13 March, 56 judicial investigation representatives and several riot police, all of whom were armed, forced their way into the offices of the ITF-affiliated union Sindicato de Trabajadores de JAPDEVA y Afines Portuarios (SINTRAJAP).

The block in which the union’s facilities are located, based in the port of Limon, was cordoned off and citizens were prevented from entering the building. The unionists were held within the office and were then, one by one, taken into custody in the area outside the cordon.

Jose Luis Castillo from SINTRAJAP explained: “This act is an indisputable example of the abuse of power and it was carried out under the pretext of searching for alleged accounting information that would serve as evidence in a complaint filed in the courts. Legal documents were removed from our offices. The police also destroyed some of the union’s furniture and asked us about our private lives.”

No stranger to attempts to destroy the union, SINTRAJAP’s executive board itself filed a lawsuit against a group of people, who had, with the government’s backing, illegally usurped the leadership of the union for seven months in 2010.

Castillo said that the raid was a “well-planned act” designed to intimidate the union and to destroy its excellent public image. The union was being punished for “daring to defend jobs” and for its opposition to the privatisation of public ports such as Limon, he added. The people of Puerto Limon had, however, expressed solidarity with the union and condemned the attack.

Commenting on the situation, Antonio Fritz, ITF Americas regional secretary, said: “The ITF is outraged by yet another attack against this union. It’s time the government ends these violations and adheres to international norms on labour rights. The union has fought to protect the ports of Limon and Moin, which are state assets, through legal means. The police seems to have no other aim than to harass the workers for protecting the company for whom they have worked all their lives.”

Auckland sackings stalled as international solidarity escalates

15 March 2012

Workers facing the sack in the Ports of Auckland have been given a temporary reprieve after a court granted an interim injunction halting management outsourcing plans.

Ports of Auckland Limited (POAL) plans to make 300 workers redundant and outsource their stevedoring work. But, after the Maritime Union of New Zealand (MUNZ) argued that the dismissals are illegal, the Employment Court has ruled that POAL cannot take any further steps in the redundancy process until after a judicial settlement conference on Monday 19 March. This conference will look into whether it was legal for POAL to sack its workforce while in ongoing negotiations over an employment agreement for those positions.

Meanwhile international solidarity with Auckland workers is stepping up a further gear with protests and pickets taking place outside New Zealand embassies and at ports worldwide.

In Tokyo 200 members of Zenkoku Kowan, the National Federation of Dockworkers’ Unions of Japan and the All Japan Seaman’s Union, staged a demonstration near Tokyo station in solidarity with Auckland workers.

In the Philippines members of aviation union PALEA organised solidarity action outside the New Zealand embassy demonstrating that this dispute has reached beyond the dockers affiliates of the ITF out into the entire supply chain.

ITF inspectors also continue to carry out ship visits informing seafarers about the dispute and hundreds of messages of solidarity have been sent to MUNZ.

Dockers’ section secretary Frank Leys said: “It is a good news day for workers in the Ports of Auckland. This injunction slows the redundancy process down but it doesn’t mean the dispute is over, far from it. The level of solidarity action from unions around the world has been encouraging but we still need to keep the pressure on and show that this isn’t just an issue for workers in Auckland, it’s an issue for workers all over the world.”

Check out the latest Auckland solidarity action going on around the world using the interactive map below and view photos here. This map's being updated all the time so if you've been involved in solidarity action and you can't see it here please let us know by emailing: dockers@itf.org.uk .

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