APMT Gothenburg, labor union fail to mediate ongoing conflict

Since initiating a lock-out and laying off terminal employees, the Swedish Dockworkers Union and APM Terminals have been unable to successfully mediate the labor conflict at the Port of Gothenburg.    The latest proposal from the Swedish Dockworkers Union failed to mediate the ongoing conflict at APM Terminals (APMT) in Gothenburg, the labor group said in a statement.
   The union, which represents a majority of the employees at APM Terminals in Gothenburg, sent a negotiation proposal June 12, which was “never answered” by the workers’ employers, other than to call for new mediation talks starting June 16, the group said. 
   The union suggested earlier this week that the parties would sign a short, collective agreement as a temporary solution “to try to normalize relations and to work towards a sustainable solution in agreement negotiations forward.” That agreement would be terminated at the earliest after 6 months, but APM Terminals rejected the offer, stating they were not interested in a short contract, according to mediators.
   The labor standoff took a turn in May when APMT announced it would initiate a partial lockout of dockworkers in Gothenburg through the end of June. As of June, the company lock-out had stopped all production at the terminal for nearly 240 hours, according to the union.
   Three weeks ago, the terminal operator announced it would let go of 160 workers, roughly 36 percent of its workforce. The union has since stated it “places great hopes on the government’s ongoing investigation of restrictions of conflict [to] in any way…solve the crisis [at] the terminal.”