The Swedish Dockworkers Union, which represents part of the workers in Swedish ports, has expanded an already ongoing strike over a new collective agreement, which it has been negotiating with the employer party Ports of Sweden.
Under the expansion, the union will block overtime and changes to regular working hours. It will also block the use of temporary agency staff and the hiring of new staff at all companies part of Ports of Sweden between Friday June 6 at 00:00 and Sunday June 8 at 24:00.
It has also called for strikes at four companies: Gothenburg Roro Terminal in the Port of Gothenburg, Hallands Hamnar in the Port of Halmstad, Helsingborgs Hamn and Dalshult Industri & Entreprenad in the Port of Helsingborg – at various times on Monday June 9. The union attributed this to the companies’ use of “organized strikebreaking”.
The Swedish Dockworkers Union organized a six-hour strike across companies on May 21. Since then the union has held industrial actions at specific companies during various times. These were scheduled to take place between May 22 and June 5. Some of the companies are also facing a ban on hiring and overtime.
In most cases, Ports of Sweden has responded to the strike with a mirrored lockout.
The full list of companies affected and the proposed schedule for the actions can be found here (in Swedish).
One of the companies listed is SCA Logistics. It was affected on May 22-May 23 at both the Port of Sundsvall and the Port of Umeå/Holmsund. Strikes and lockouts are also scheduled for June 5 at the Port of Sundsvall and for June 2 and June 5 at the Port of Umeå/Holmsund.
The other union representing Swedish port workers, the Swedish Transport Workers’ Union (Transport), settled on a new collective agreement with Ports of Sweden on May 20.
Ports of Sweden offered the Swedish Dockworkers Union the same agreement, but the union declined, because they did not believe that enough had been done on the topic of temporary agency staff, among other things.
P&P companies prepare
Some Swedish pulp and paper (P&P) companies said they were monitoring the developments at the ports and taking precautions to minimize the impact.
A spokesperson for SCA said that the agreement between Transport and Ports of Sweden is the most important one for them and they were happy it was completed on time.
“Other than that, we have preparedness and established routines for industrial action and so far, we have been able to handle the situation in an acceptable manner,” the spokesperson told Fastmarkets.
A spokesperson for Stora Enso said: “We are monitoring the developments and have prepared alternative logistics solutions in advance of the strike to minimize the impact. Our exports depend on well-functioning port logistics, and we of course hope that a solution can be reached to avoid the challenges that a strike poses.”
At Billerud, a spokesperson said that since the company had been aware of the planned strikes, it has been able to plan mitigation measures. “Therefore, we do not expect any major impacts, but of course we are monitoring the developments,” she said.
Other Swedish P&P companies contacted did not respond to requests for comment. The Swedish Forest Industries Federation and the Swedish Association of Industrial Employers declined to comment on how the strikes are impacting the Swedish forest industry.
Labour Court sides with union
Ports of Sweden has argued that the actions planned by the Swedish Dockworkers Union are unlawful because the collective agreement with Transport applies to all port workers in Sweden, regardless of union membership, and has filed a complaint with the Swedish Labour Court.
In this complaint, the organization argued that the union is, through its industrial actions, trying to replace the existing collective agreement with Transport and exert pressure in a specific legal dispute.
But the Swedish Labour Court disagreed and allowed the industrial actions to continue in an interim decision made on Monday May 26.
Ports of Sweden was disappointed with the outcome, saying it “risks putting the entire Swedish model out of action and threatens the position of collective agreements as the foundation of the Swedish labor market”.
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