today's strike in the port of Rotterdam interrupts 13 years of social peace on the docks



Today 13 long years of social peace are interrupted on the docks of the port of Rotterdam with strike of 24 hours proclaimed from the unions Christelijk Nationaal Vakverbond (CNV) and Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging (FNV) for protest against the feared cut of places of work determined from the excess of ability to traffic of the container terminal of the Dutch harbour port of call and from the start of the activity of the new terminals to elevated automation in the harbour area Maasvlakte that need of a minor rerun to the harbour labor.

The two unions have emphasized that the action of protest totally is supported by international the trade-union federation of the field of transports International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) and by its Pan-European associate European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF) let alone by labor organizations BTB, Greens and Cgt in representation respective of the harbour workers of Antwerp, Amburgo and the Havre.

CNV and FNV have denounced that "the result to which will be reached in the next few years with the adoption of the automation in the field of the container and with the construction of the second harbour area the Maasvlakte will be the loss of hundred of places of work, than in the worse one of the cases will be able to arrive to 800 units". The unions, in fact, are worried that they are to risk from 200 to job 800 places on the current ones about 3.500 in the port of Rotterdam. "In the automation - it has emphasized Niek Stam, representative of the section Ports of the FNV - million euro are invested, but nobody has thought to the loss of the places of work".

In order to ask for such hypothesis the two unions have asked guarantees for the safeguard for the occupation of the harbour workers until on July 1°, 2020, with the possibility of delay of the agreement if the problem of the sovracapacità will not be resolved. Such demand is not received within the expiration of last Wednesday to hours 12,00 fixed from CNV and FNV, that therefore they have proclaimed the arrest warrant of the job.

Last night the Harbour Authority of Rotterdam has invited the two unions to a new encounter in order to discuss the terms about an understanding that has been fixed for next monday, invitation that up to now is received by CNV. Hoping that from the encounter of exploratory character he can follow a resumption of the negotiations, Albert van Damme, representative of the section Professionals of CNV, has confirmed that the union wants "an agreement that offers real perspectives to the workers, with occupation guarantees".