Dutch trade unionists boycott
So, how did it happen that Heathfield himself in a letter of
December 6 confirmed his letter to Kok?
coal bound for Britain
Not before December 8 does any headway seem to have been made. Kees Marges, in the name of the Vervoersbond; and Rob
Bunt, for the FNV, engaged in discussions in London. Under
The following article is from the February 13 issue of Klasthe leadership of Norman Willis, general secretary of the TUC, senstrijd, the paper of the Dutch saction of the Fourth Interrepresentatives of the confederations and transport unions from
West Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands talked with a representative of the International Transport Federation and
At last, the first action has gotten off the ground at the representatives of a series of British trade unions. Out of this
Amsterdam [Amsterdam meeting came a call to do everything possible to prevent the
Company]. On Friday, February 8, for the entire day no coal was loaded into ship "Elisabeth" bound for England. But why shipment of extra quantities of coal and oil, over and above the in hell has it taken so long to get such actions under way?
From these facts it seems clear that more was asked than
And how is it possible that coal and oil are still going to England simply "seeking out and registering coal and oil shipments to from the Netherlands?
England," as the leadership of the Vervoersbond has always
The leadership of the FNV [the major union confederation] and the affiliated unions have always had something new to hide
Up to the beginning of December, the Vervoersbond
Naturally, such a boycott will not come about spontaneously.
[Transport Workers Union] said that there was no "official
It is not so easy with the transshipment companies.
call for a boycott"
unemployment is great on the docks.
past have eliminated a lot of jobs. And the Vervoersbond could
What are the facts?
not do anything about that.
On March 21, 1984, the NUM launched an international
So it is logical that people on the docks say, "and now we appeal. It asked the miners unions to watch to make sure that are supposed to boycott coal?
none of the coal they produced was shipped to Great Britain.
"But how long should we strike? A day? The next
The two international transport workers federations got a day the ship will be loaded ....
request to ask their members to boycott coal and oil shipments be a strike if our own needs are taken up."
There are problems that you cannot avoid if you want to call
Two and a half months later, the NUM sent a letter to the a boycott. But it was very cheap when Wim Kok said at the
FNV. It was dated May 1. Among other things, it said: *We time of the occupation of the FNV office: "People have to be would be very happy to have your help to try to stop the transshipment of coal from the Netherlands to the United able to determine themselves what policy the leadership is to follow." A call for a boycott could only be effective if it were
Kingdom ...' [Retranslated from the Dutch.] coupled with a perspective for the future of the transshipment
Two days later, Vernon Jones, overseas representative of business. Take Terneuzen. Its business in practice turns around the NUM, during a meeting with Kees Marges of the Vervoersbond pressed him to take action.
Marges gave the following response in an interview with the
The fact that it is nonsense that the workers do not want a paper Solidariteit (January 1985):
boycott is clear from the fantastic action of the workers at the
"Contacts abroad are not going so easily because the NUM is no longer a member of the International Miners Federation."
Overslag Bedrijf Amsterdam. But that must not be the end of it.
On May 22, the International Miners Federation called on
All shipment of coal to England must be stopped.
Another problem often raised is that in the event of a boy.
the transport unions to black coal transport to Great Britain.
cott, the Vervoersbond would have the judges on its back. That
So, what is the problem if the NUM is not a member of the
International Federation?
more from the NUM."
harbors.
10 the shipment of coal.
Reorganizations in the
Naturally, we don't like doing
." "We think that there will only
What sort of future does it have if the
The conditions for that
International Viewpoint 11 March 1985
No one is unaware that there are a lot of problems involved in boycotting extra coal and oil shipments. But a solution can be found for those problems once the union leadership is prepared to take the responsibility for such a boycott and thus to mobilize the creativity of the membership.
The newspaper of the FNV, de Vakbondskrant, "Action readiness has been harmed especially by the activities various action committees operating outside the union movement, some of whose members have put such heavy pressure on workers at the transshipment companies that a lot of irritation has been created." This comment was directed against the occupation of the FNV office.
Naturally, we agree that this was a stupid action that did not bring the boycott any closer. But this action was not directed against the workers in the transshipment companies but against the leadership of the FNV. This leadership is in fact not taking adequate steps to give real leadership to a boycott. And during the occupation, Wim Kok could not convince those involved in the action that they were going to change. Instead, he knew nothing better to do than to call the police to throw them out.