The Icelandic fleet is set to stop fishing at 2300 on the 10th of November as unions voted overwhelmingly for strike action.
91% of members of the The Icelandic Union of Marine Engineers and Metal Technicians voted for a strike and approximately 90% of the members of associations affiliated to the Seamen’s Union representing deck crews voted to strike.
The ships officers’ union had previously voted to accept the terms of an agreement with owners’ federation SFS (Iceland Fisheries).
There are several issues the pro-strike unions are deeply dissatisfied with, notably the percentage crews of new vessels pay towards construction costs, which is felt to be excessive, not least in the light of the large number of new vessels set to join the Icelandic fleet over the coming year with both freezer and fresher trawlers being built at yards in China and Turkey for Icelandic operators.
The crucial issue, which has been a bone of contention for many years, is the question of the prices paid by vertically-integrated companies for fish caught by vessels and processed at factories ashore, with both owned by the same company.
Shares paid to crews are calculated on a rate set by a committee, and this is always significantly lower than the rate paid for fish at auctions. The demand is for all fish to go through the auction system and for shares to be calculated on the market rate. This has been the cause of a long-running dispute and no solution appears to be in sight.
Crews have become increasingly dissatisfied with earnings as the Icelandic Króna has gained strength, and also as the currently closed Russian has affected exports of some species. Crew earnings are reported to be 30-40% lower than they were a year ago.
The previous agreements between unions and owners came to an end some years ago and it has not been possible to reach agreement since.
The strike is set to start at 2300 on the 10th of November if no agreement has been reached by that date.
