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International

Sign petition to support tug workers, ITF urges

11 March 2022

The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) is asking seafarers to support its campaigning on behalf of tug workers by signing a petition to Svitzer and its parent company AP Moller-Maersk.

The petition is addressed to Kasper Nilaus, CEO of Svitzer, and Søren Skou, CEO of AP Moller-Maersk. It expresses the ITF's strong objection to actions by Svitzer in Australia, the Netherlands and the UK, where the company is seeking to undermine pay, conditions and collective bargaining

In the Netherlands, Svitzer Euromed is undermining an existing Collective Bargaining Agreement by establishing a second corporate entity (Svitzer Netherlands). This new entity is refusing to conclude a collective agreement with FNV-Havens and Nautilus International's Netherlands branch.

The petition also highlights the company's actions in the UK, where it is trying to freeze pay for tug workers in Teesport. As a result of this, 100 per cent of workers there with Unite the Union have voted for strike action.

Meanwhile, in Australia, Svitzer is trying to terminate its long-standing collective bargaining agreement with the members of three maritime unions (MUA AIMPE, AMOU). The Nautilus Federation is supporting the Australian unions in opposing this.


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