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14 December, 2009
A sequence of labour-management stand-offs at paper company Sappi’s Nimjegen, Netherlands, mill on 2-3 December was what it took to bring labour peace, following three months of rancorous dispute. The defining stand-off that ended this dispute was a mill-wide, non-paid lockout by local managers, an anomaly to Holland’s to social bargaining practices.
That lockout, announced during the final hours of a legal 38-hour industrial action by four Dutch unions, including ICEM affiliates FNV Bondgenoten and CNV Bedrijvenbond at Nimjegen, set off high emotions inside the mill and forced fast intervention by Sappi’s European management.
The result was a one-year rollover of the existing social agreement for 800 workers at the Nijmegen and Maastricht paper mills. The compromise, moreover, preserves “seniorendaggen,” or loyalty days away from the job for long-serving workers. This key issue was resolved with both labour and management agreeing that this social Dutch benefit would be retained until at least 1 July 2014. Accrual of senior days for new workers hired after 1 January 2010 will be eliminated.
Following no response by Sappi to a workers’ proposal to end the dispute on 26 November, 24-hour industrial actions began at both Nijmegen and Maastricht. By 1 December, when Sappi still had failed to respond to a modest union proposal that could have ended the dispute, Nijmegen staff announced a 38-hour strike, while Maastricht workers would down tools for 24 hours starting early on 3 December.
The dispute’s turning point then came late on Wednesday, 2 December, at the Nijmegen mill. With tempers short and rumours rife that the shutdown might last longer, mill managers escorted the few staff working off the job, and announced a non-paid lockout.
Sappi also sent a letter to the unions requesting bargaining. Over the next 24 hours, through European corporate involvement, a compromise was hammered out.
One fact that proved helpful for the Dutch unions is that on 15 October they staged a manifestation at Sappi European headquarters in Brussels, presenting senior executives with a petition signed by 800 angry workers. That manifestation was joined by written protests from global pulp and paper unions.
Sappi did rearrange its contract terms in the days following the Brussels manifestation, but still wanted to be rid of having to grant senior days. The four unions decided to put Sappi’s offer to joint vote, but Dutch paperworkers rejected it by 99%.
The industrial actions a fortnight ago, leading to the Nijmegen lockout, brought the dispute to a head. The compromise reached keeps the 2008 social agreement from Maastricht in place at both locations until 1 October 2010, and grants a one-year salary increase of 1.2%, backdated to 1 July 2009.
The workers’ strikes at Nijmegen were the first such industrial stoppages in the history of the mill, while the walkouts in Maastricht were in first in over 30 years.
“We are grateful for the messages of support from trade unionists all over the world,” said Ans van den Akker of FNV Bondgenoten. “A special thanks goes to our Belgian colleagues who made sure that no struck work was brought to them at the Lanaken mill.”
The ICEM commends the courage and collective power displayed by workers of all four unions at Nijmegen and Maastricht. It was through their common resolve that they retained the rights most important to them, while earning the respect of Sappi management in doing so.