Actions are imminent at Rotterdam container terminal Hutchison Ports Delta II. Workers are furious because management is not honouring a crucial commitment from the collective agreement result. "This is going to have major consequences," predicts CNV negotiator Jelmer Hoogland. "The workers have completely lost confidence in the management."
Rotterdam container terminal Hutchison Ports Delta II.
Spontaneous wildcat actions already broke out last Sunday, when it became clear that management was not going to stick to a firm commitment. In fact, in the recently reached collective agreement result, it had been agreed that the management would come up with a guarantee for severance pay, in case redundancies occur at the terminal.
"That guarantee is a crucial part of the collective agreement result. But we did not get it in black and white, as was promised," Hoogland says. "This has rendered the laboriously achieved collective agreement result worthless at a stroke. The workers are furious about this and have totally lost trust in the management. We can start collective bargaining all over again."
Spirit is out of the bottle
According to Hoogland, the genie is now out of the bottle. "This is really very bad. We are entering a grim period, with work stoppages and strikes that we will announce shortly in advance each time. Then there will be ships lying unemployed at the quay, not being unloaded or loaded. The same goes for trucks. This is going to have major economic consequences."
Employees want certainty on severance pay
The 500 or so workers at the container terminal want certainty from the management about severance pay, in case jobs start to disappear. This is not unthinkable, says Hoogland. "Things have been rumbling at the container terminal for some time. The management has not put its house in order. For example, there is still no final decision on a major refurbishment of the quay and the equipment is outdated. Employees are worried about the future of the terminal and want to make sure their severance pay is secure. That the management is now failing to honour that important commitment is oil on the fire."
The unions (CNV and FNV) will now organise actions, with work stoppages or strikes announced only shortly in advance each time.
Source: CNV
'500 workers container terminal are furious'