Union and Kihnu Veeteed fail to agree on seafarers’ pay

The Estonian Seafarers’ Union and Kihnu Veeteed, a ferry operator serving small islands, have failed to reach an agreement on higher wages even with the help of a state mediator, ERR reports. The dispute could lead to a longer strike after crews on the Kihnu and Vormsi routes held a one-hour warning strike in late July.

The union has been negotiating with Kihnu Veeteed since March over a collective agreement and a 20 to 30 percent increase in base salaries for ferry workers. No agreement has been reached, including through the state mediation process.

Kihnu Veeteed chief executive Jaak Kaabel said the mediator had been neutral and had made a reasonable proposal, but that the union had rejected it categorically.

The union plans to continue negotiations. Its chairman, Jüri Lember, said it had sent the employer a new compromise proposal based on the discussions so far and was awaiting a response by the end of the working day on August 5. The union has lowered its proposed wage scale for all positions compared with the mediator’s offer, except for deckhands, whose current basic wage is very low, Lember said.

The crews of the Kihnu Virve and Ormsö ferries held the warning strike at the end of July. Lember said the union was prepared to organise a longer strike if necessary, but would have to give two weeks’ written notice.

Kaabel said the company did not want a prolonged strike but could not prevent one. He said the company had tried during the warning strike to ensure that all passengers could complete their journeys.

According to Kaabel, Kihnu Veeteed’s contract with the state treats strikes as force majeure, meaning the company would not face sanctions or significant financial losses. He said the company would nevertheless take seriously the need to ensure that passengers could travel.

Kaabel said the company’s profit margin was between 4 and 6 percent and that it did not have profits worth millions of euros. Lember, however, said the union’s proposal was affordable given Kihnu Veeteed’s financial position and that the company chief’s claims about a lack of funds were not credible.

The union is awaiting Kihnu Veeteed’s response on Wednesday.