Today, 18 May 2016 a lashing seminar gathering German Dockers was held in Hamburg at the initiative of ETF German affiliate ver.di and with the support from ETF and ITF.
During the seminar the ongoing ETF/ITF lashing campaign was presented and its future discussed. Lashing and unlashing are part of the operations to be performed by dockers: these are highly dangerous operations that can only be done by trained and experienced workers. The campaign, launched in May 2015, intends to put an end to self-handling cases.
ETF Dockers’ Section Chair, Terje Samuelsen said “Way too often we get reports of lashing and unlashing done by seafarers on board feeder vessels. Besides representing an enormous risk for seaferers’ and maritime safety, this practice jeopardises dockers’ jobs. Collective bargaining agreements for seafarers include a clause stating that lashing has to be done by dockers, and we are determined to enforce this. With this campaign European dockworkers’ unions have put forward a broad strategy that is already delivering good results. We are now ready to elevate the pressure and take our campaign to a higher level”.
“German dockers have loudly voiced the need to claim back lashing” stated Torben Seebold, ETF Dockers’ vice-chair and dockers’ leader within ver.di.
“They see this campaign as a crucial tool for ensuring the future of their profession. The resolution and firmness they have expressed today is key to achieving our objectives. Similar seminars will be held soon in other European ports, as getting lashing back is high in the list of priorities in many countries. We have fiercely fought against two port packages because they aimed at allowing self-handling: we are not going to tolerate this happening in our ports!“
