The union (FNV) Dockers strike in the Port of Rotterdam
“𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑢𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘. 𝐿𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑢𝑛𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒, 𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑗𝑎𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝𝑠 𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑎. 𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑤𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑔𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑡. 𝑊ℎ𝑜 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑐𝑘𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑑𝑜?”
Mark Roon, one of our Rotterdam lashers, explains the ongoing strikes and negotiations:
🔹🔹🔹
𝐒𝐣𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐑𝐨𝐨𝐧 (𝟐𝟖) 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 – 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞
Striking lashers shut down the port last week. Loading and unloading became impossible, causing a traffic jam of waiting ships at sea. While awaiting new wage negotiations, they have resumed work, but the threat of new work stoppages is not over yet. Who are these dockworkers, and what exactly do they do?
When Mark Roon (28) has to explain at birthday parties what he does, he says: “We put crosses on containers.” Because that’s essentially what lashing work comes down to: using steel rods to secure cargo in a crisscross pattern so it doesn’t shift at sea.
It’s important work — without lashers, container ships cannot be loaded or unloaded. The port of Rotterdam has two lashing companies: Matrans Maritime Services and International Lashing Services (ILS).
𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤
Roon and his Matrans colleagues — lashers always work in pairs — place an average of ninety “crosses” per person per workday. It’s tough work, explains the man from Schiedam, because each cross consists of two rods weighing about 15 kilos each.
“We lift them about 180 times a day. On busy days, the workload can even double.”
“𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐰𝐞’𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬. 𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐰𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.”
— 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐑𝐨𝐨𝐧, 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫
Lashing work is not complicated, but it is heavy and potentially dangerous.
In 2019, a colleague of Roon lost his life after falling through an open hatch on board a ship, in the narrow passageway between the stacked containers.
“That accident had a big impact. It made me realize the risks you take. Luckily, I’ve never experienced anything that dangerous. A bruised finger every now and then comes with the job.”
𝐏𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬
Drivers from Metrans and ILS announced last week, when the wage conflict was heating up, that lashers earn between 5,000 and 6,000 euros gross per month for a 32-hour workweek. That they went on strike for an even higher salary was called by the company leaders “irresponsible and very damaging.”
Roon and his colleagues disagree. The mentioned amounts are correct, he says, but the picture is more nuanced.
“The employer forgets to mention that we work during the day, in the evening, and at night. That comes with shift allowances. In recent years, we’ve also been doing more and more without getting extra colleagues.
On top of that, we often work under poor weather conditions. We lash in temperatures between -5 and +40. Only in storms do we stay home — that’s when it gets too dangerous.”
‘Sewer of the port’
There’s something else that bothers the lashers: a lack of respect.
“Container terminals often look down on us, as if we are the sewer of the port. At the RGW terminal, for example, we’re not even allowed to eat in the cafeteria. With this strike, we’re showing how important we are.”
To enforce their wage demands, seven hundred lashers from Metrans and ILS went on strike last Wednesday. The strike was initially planned to last until Friday afternoon, but since no agreement was in sight at the time, the action was extended indefinitely.
Ten port parties, including container terminals and transport companies, demanded in court that the strike be banned.
The judge, however, opted for a compromise and ruled that the lashers must return to work from Monday through Thursday. The union (FNV) and the employers must try to reach an agreement.
If that doesn’t work, another strike may begin on Friday. The port parties will then likely go back to court to try to ban the strike again. A ruling is expected Monday, which means that work could be halted again for four days.
FNV Havens mediateam