Swedish Dockers, APM Terminals Return to Negotiating Table

The Swedish Dockworker’s union Hamn 4:an decided to continue discussions with the employer APM Terminals Gothenburg on May 26 without any notice of industrial action, the operator said in an update.

“Although we don’t have a common understanding in all matters, we see the news as encouraging since it gives us the ability to come back towards a normal operation during an ongoing dialogue,” APM Terminals said in a statement.

“We choose to see the development as we now are one step closer to a long-term solution, even though the counterpart has been clear on their mandate to give a new strike notice,” Managing Director, Henrik Kristensen, said.

After the central mediation was put on hold last week, the parties met in local discussions on Thursday, focused on finding solutions which would lead to “an improved and sustainable service delivery towards the customers.”

APM Terminals said that the operation in the Gothenburg terminal is still affected by the previous strikes and it is not known when it could reach normal levels again.

The latest 24-hour strike, announced at the beginning of May, was organized by the dockworkers on May 24, following another failure between the Swedish dockworkers and company representatives to find a middle ground on the pending issues.

The decision to move forward with the strikes practically broke off the mediation process between the two parties launched on May 11.

The workers’ main requirements include demand for a separate collective agreement and decision on how many persons can participate in a negotiation. They also contain other issues related to job satisfaction at the terminal.