Dutch seafarers
facing job cuts after Maersk Line announced the sale of its Dutch ships are
appealing to the shareholders of A.P. Moeller – Maersk to intervene to help
save their jobs.
Their open letter to the Maersk shareholders
appealing for intervention with management is the latest step in a campaign
launched in December 2020 and supported by Nautilus International, the
international trade union for seafarers.
At issue the jobs of 24 Dutch seafarers that were manning the
company’s Dutch-flagged vessels
At issue are the
jobs of 24 Dutch seafarers that were manning the company’s Dutch-flagged
vessels. Last year, Maersk announced that it was selling the last five vessels
in its fleet registered in The Netherlands. After completing the sale-charter
back deal for the ships, Maersk announced that 38 Dutch officers, captains and
chief engineers, could continue their employment, but another 24 Dutch
seafarers, mostly chief officers and second engineers, would be let go. Reports
said these seafarers were offered the option of re-signing with the company
under Danish seafarer employment terms that would reduce their pay by a third
and result in the loss of pensions and other benefits.
Maersk, with over 300 ships in service, would not be able to find jobs
for all 24 Dutch seafarers on their fleet, it is incomprehensible says Nautilus
International
“It is
incomprehensible to us and our members that a profitable company like Maersk,
with over 300 ships in service, would not be able to find jobs for all 24 Dutch
seafarers on their fleet in addition to the Dutch Captains and Chief
Engineers,” said Nautilus International senior national secretary Marcel van
Dam. “Our members do not accept this and demand that Maersk will withdraw all
announced layoffs.”
According to a
statement from the union, the affected seafarers feel particularly let down by
Maersk management due to their willingness to support the company including
during the pandemic. The 24 crew members are reportedly asking to go to sea to
replace other seafarers who have been awaiting their relief or are due for
leaves that might have been postponed due to the challenges of crew changes
during the pandemic.
Maersk is penalizing us to
boost profits say seafarers to the shareholders of the company
In the letter to
the shareholders of the company, the seafarers as asking for support to
maintain the jobs. “Most of us have been serving with the company for over 25
years and strongly feel that Maersk is penalizing us to boost profits,” they
write. Maersk, they say, in its core principles highlights trust. “We,
therefore, ask you to advise the Maersk management to stick to its own
principles, so we can go back to work again,” they write in the letter.
Nautilus also says that it
had a memorandum of understanding on job security reached with the company in
2011. The union is calling on the company to honor this agreement and to
reassign the 24 seafarers within the fleet. |