NEWS, ERR, yesterday at 15.46 Updated: today at 08.44
https://news.err.ee/1610131771/another-small-island-ferry-strike-called-for-september-18
Kihnu Virve, one of the ferries providing connections between mainland Estonia and the islands. Source: Kairit Leibold/ERR
Estonia's small island ferry services are facing another strike following a long running negotiation deadlock on pay and conditions.
The strike has been called by the Estonian Seamen's Independent Union (EMSA) and is confirmed to take place Friday, September 18, and will last until an agreement is struck.
Talks
between EMSA and ferry operator Kihnu Veeteed over a new collective wage
agreement have been deadlocked since March, with a warning strike held in July.
In any case, the state plans to take over the operation of the routes next
year.
The latest planned strike will take place Friday next week and covers all vessels and routes operated by Kihnu Veeteed, following a breakdown in collective negotiations and the formation of a breakaway rival unioon.
"It is difficult to understand what exactly the problem is," Kihnu Veeteed CEO Jaak Kaabel told regional daily Lääne Elu, noting that workers' pay had been hiked 12 20 percent depending on the position. Pay had been one of the major issues in the long running dispute.
EMSA chairman Jüri Lember said the pay rise had been one thing, but it had not been as generous as might seem at first sight.
"The
pay rise is very welcome, but it is a unilateral decision by the
employer," Lember said, adding that the real increase was smaller because
bonuses had been reduced at the same time.
Jüri Lember. Source: ERR
The ferry company had instead reached an agreement with the newly established Lääne Eesti meremeeste ametiühing (Western Estonian Seamen's Union), a breakaway body which represents six employees at the company at present.
Lember said the rival union's agreement allows for a 91 hour work week and includes a clause stating that no watchkeeping duties have been performed on the ferries — which he called "nonsense" and unacceptable.
EMSA
said since Kihnu Veeteed had not been willing to engage in substantive,
reasoned negotiations over the union's repeatedly submitted proposals for a
collective agreement, or to conclude such an agreement, a strike was
inevitable.
Lember added just over half of Kihnu Veeteed's crew roster are EMSA members.
Tanel Viks, municipal mayor on Vormsi, one of the islands affected by the dispute, expressed his anger with EMSA over the strike planned for September 18. "It's outrageous," Viks told Lääne Elu, describing EMSA's actions as "blackmail."
The action will affect four vessels plying the routes between the mainland and the offshore islands of Kihnu and Manilaid, as well as Vormsi. Kihnu Veeteed also serves a short route linking Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, Estonia's two largest islands, and connecting Priisaar, an island on the freshwater Lake Peipus, with the shore too. These will all be affected by the strike.
Talks between EMSA and Kihnu Veeteed over a new collective wage agreement have been deadlocked since March, with EMSA demanding 20–30 percent pay rises and the company arguing its profit margins are too narrow to meet the demands.
A one hour warning strike took place on July 26.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture has selected Tuule Liinid OÜ to take over the small island ferry routes from Kihnu Veeteed from 2027.
Editor's note: This piece was updated to include confirmation the strike is going ahead September 18.
Editor:
Andrew Whyte, Mirjam Mäekivi
