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10 August, 2005ICEM News release No. 51/2001
Norwegian oil and petrochemical workers' union NOPEF faces court proceedings over its notice of a boycott against Trico Marine. The Norwegian union has threatened to black the firm because of its union-busting in the US.
Trico's Norwegian subsidiary Trico Supply ASA said yesterday that it wants a court ruling on the boycott.
In a letter to the company, NOPEF has once again put forward a simple solution - if Trico confirms in writing that it respects international standards on freedom of organisation in its US operations, then the Norwegian union will consider calling off the boycott.
The Norwegian union has also provided a draft text for the company to sign. The proposed declaration is as follows:
It is the policy of Trico Marine Services, Inc, USA that the employees themselves should decide whether they wish to be organised in a trade union or not - without interference from the company's side. Employees who choose to organise will not be subjected to harassment, discrimination or threats from the management side.
Trico Marine Services, Inc, USA ensures that employees within the company enjoy adequate protection against any discrimination that constitutes an attack on the right to organise - i.e. against dismissal or other molestations resulting from membership of or participation in a trade union. Nobody who seeks employment in the company shall risk rejection of a job application on the grounds of trade union activity.
Trico Marine Services, Inc, USA will respect the employees' choice by recognising Offshore Mariners United if the employees of the concern choose to organise within that union.
[translated from the Norwegian]
A modest enough draft statement, but the company apparently has no intention of signing it.
"We answered that point earlier and our answer is the same now," Trico Supply ASA's Managing Director Jon Arild Goksøyr told the Norwegian newspaper Sunnmørsposten. In other words, the company is standing by its claim that it respects the right to organise everywhere.
This is strongly disputed by the unions. The company respects organising rights in Norway. But in the US, it is actively anti-union.
"We have decided to get a court ruling on the boycott, and we are sticking to that," Goksøyr added. "For us, there's nothing new in this letter."
Meanwhile, Norwegian legislators Marit Nybakk and Hallgeir Langeland have asked the country's Minister of Trade and Industry to put pressure on Den norske bank (the Norwegian bank) concerning its loans to Trico. The call has been backed by the Norwegian Labour Party, and NOPEF will be meeting Nybakk about the affair on 6 August. The matter has now been raised with Minister of Finance Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen.
NOPEF has already persuaded oil company Norsk Hydro to halt negotiations with Trico on the chartering of vessels, and the Norwegian-headquartered energy multinational Statoil is also currently examining its options.
At the global level, NOPEF is affiliated to the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) and the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF).
The ICEM, in cooperation with the ITF, has been in contact with senior Statoil management on this issue and has emphasised that Statoil, as a major Trico customer, could use its influence to help resolve the question of trade union recognition in the US.
In 1998, the ICEM, NOPEF and Statoil signed the oil sector's first-ever globally applicable agreement on industrial relations. This covers basic trade union rights, health, safety and the environment, information and training. In March 2001, an updated and further strengthened version of the agreement was concluded. This new agreement takes full account of the UN's Global Compact initiative, under which multinationals commit themselves to promote trade union rights and other human rights.
Trico's Norwegian subsidiary Trico Supply ASA said yesterday that it wants a court ruling on the boycott.
In a letter to the company, NOPEF has once again put forward a simple solution - if Trico confirms in writing that it respects international standards on freedom of organisation in its US operations, then the Norwegian union will consider calling off the boycott.
The Norwegian union has also provided a draft text for the company to sign. The proposed declaration is as follows:
It is the policy of Trico Marine Services, Inc, USA that the employees themselves should decide whether they wish to be organised in a trade union or not - without interference from the company's side. Employees who choose to organise will not be subjected to harassment, discrimination or threats from the management side.
Trico Marine Services, Inc, USA ensures that employees within the company enjoy adequate protection against any discrimination that constitutes an attack on the right to organise - i.e. against dismissal or other molestations resulting from membership of or participation in a trade union. Nobody who seeks employment in the company shall risk rejection of a job application on the grounds of trade union activity.
Trico Marine Services, Inc, USA will respect the employees' choice by recognising Offshore Mariners United if the employees of the concern choose to organise within that union.
[translated from the Norwegian]
A modest enough draft statement, but the company apparently has no intention of signing it.
"We answered that point earlier and our answer is the same now," Trico Supply ASA's Managing Director Jon Arild Goksøyr told the Norwegian newspaper Sunnmørsposten. In other words, the company is standing by its claim that it respects the right to organise everywhere.
This is strongly disputed by the unions. The company respects organising rights in Norway. But in the US, it is actively anti-union.
"We have decided to get a court ruling on the boycott, and we are sticking to that," Goksøyr added. "For us, there's nothing new in this letter."
Meanwhile, Norwegian legislators Marit Nybakk and Hallgeir Langeland have asked the country's Minister of Trade and Industry to put pressure on Den norske bank (the Norwegian bank) concerning its loans to Trico. The call has been backed by the Norwegian Labour Party, and NOPEF will be meeting Nybakk about the affair on 6 August. The matter has now been raised with Minister of Finance Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen.
NOPEF has already persuaded oil company Norsk Hydro to halt negotiations with Trico on the chartering of vessels, and the Norwegian-headquartered energy multinational Statoil is also currently examining its options.
At the global level, NOPEF is affiliated to the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM) and the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF).
The ICEM, in cooperation with the ITF, has been in contact with senior Statoil management on this issue and has emphasised that Statoil, as a major Trico customer, could use its influence to help resolve the question of trade union recognition in the US.
In 1998, the ICEM, NOPEF and Statoil signed the oil sector's first-ever globally applicable agreement on industrial relations. This covers basic trade union rights, health, safety and the environment, information and training. In March 2001, an updated and further strengthened version of the agreement was concluded. This new agreement takes full account of the UN's Global Compact initiative, under which multinationals commit themselves to promote trade union rights and other human rights.