Sjømannskonferansen «Conference of Ten» (CoT) reagerer sterkt på at den norske regjeringen gjennom å åpne for å registrere Color Lines Kiel-fartøyer, tilrettelegger for en konkurransevridning i nordeuropeisk skipsfart. De mener at det i praksis vil bli starten på en domino-effekt gjennom ferjefarten i hele Nord-Europa, eller et «race to the bottom», som de kaller det.
Conference of Ten består av alle sjømannsorganisasjonene fra landene rundt Østersjøen og Skagerak:
Finland, Russland, Estland, Latvia, Litauen, Polen, Tyskland, Danmark, Sverige og Norge.
Her er uttalelsen i sin helhet:
Race to the bottom
”Conference of Ten” fearing horrible consequences for the Nordic and Baltic ferry labor market!
During a meeting in Copenhagen on the 15th of March 2018, among all Seafarers’ and Officers unions from ten countries around the Baltic Sea, discussions were held about the devastating proposal from the Norwegian Government.
The Norwegian Government's proposal to set a border on nautical miles, to allow registration of passenger ferries in the Norwegian NIS register, will surely have dramatic consequences both in the short and the long term.
By setting a limit on nautical miles to determine who gets the NIS registry, with an international wage level for seafarers, will create very different competitive conditions for the entire Nordic ferry market.
Other companies on near routes will of course not sit idle to see a competing company with completely different unfair terms and conditions, when they all operate on the same market, this will have a massive impact on, and in, all other countries around Baltic- and North Sea.
We therefore fear major unintended consequences by amending the regulation that sets a limit on X number of nautical miles, and for that matter, any changes in NIS to wider the limits compared to todays
The consequence is to start a "Race to the bottom", which in practice is a domino effect that will put more countries and more routes under the same pressure, a domino effect that in the long term will totally change the entire Nordic ferry labor market.
Do not think this change of ruling is a national issue, this will have a great impact on all ferry traffic in the whole Baltic- and North Sea.
Against this background, we strongly urge the Norwegian Government not to make any changes at all in the rules of Norwegian NIS register and leave it as is!
Seafarers’ and officers Unions from
(country with x did not attend the meeting)
Finland
Russia (x)
Estonia
Latvia (x)
Lithuania (x)
Poland
Germany
Denmark
Sweden
Norway
