Viking Line petitions UK Commercial Court for ruling on Finnish industrial relations

Finland's Viking Line shipping company has initiated legal action in London against the Finnish Seamen's Union - FSU and the International Transport Workers' Federation - ITF. The shipping company has secured an injunction from the UK court of first instance preventing the FSU from taking any action against Viking Line before the company reflags its passenger-cargo ferry Rosella to Estonia. The order effectively prevents the FSU from representing the interests of workers on the ship.

Viking Line has been preparing for the Rosella to sail under the Estonian flag for some time. Sitting in London, the Commercial Court has forbidden the FSU and the ITF from taking any action that would affect this reflagging. The organisations are also restrained from interfering in any way in crew appointments or in the terms of employment of the crew of the Rosella after the reflagging.

Any breach of the Commercial Court injunction by the FSU could result in a range of measures, including imprisonment of the union's Chairperson and sequestration of its assets. An appeal has been lodged against the injunction at the United Kingdom Court of Appeal. Consideration of this appeal is due to begin on Wednesday 7 September.

European Community law has enabled Viking Line to plead its case before the courts of a Member State in which the right to strike is severely limited. Even though in theory the Commercial Court had a duty to apply the law of Finland, the injunction clearly conflicts with fundamental principles of the Finnish legal system. The injunction limits the freedom of association and even the freedom of expression that are guaranteed by the Finnish Constitution. In spite of this, the District Court of Helsinki ruled at the end of July - without even hearing the views of the FSU - that the injunction issued in London is enforceable in Finland. The FSU has lodged an appeal against this ruling.

Similar legal proceedings are also under way in Sweden. An embargo of the Latvian construction company Laval un Partner has led to a situation in which the national employers' confederation is supporting an application to the European Court of Justice for a ruling on the relative weight to be assigned to the principle of freedom of movement of services and the right to take industrial action.

The Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions - SAK is very concerned about these cases. Employers in both Finland and Sweden have been systematically seeking judicial rulings that give priority to the freedom of movement of goods and services within the European internal market over the fundamental rights that are guaranteed to workers by the national legal order, such as the right to organise and engage in collective bargaining. The development of the European Union as a community that also adheres to and respects the fundamental rights of workers will suffer a serious credibility crisis if attacks of this kind on trade union rights are allowed to succeed. The new constitutional treaty would reinforce the status of the trade union movement in questions of this kind.

SAK is closely monitoring the progress of these legal actions. They have also been the subject of high level discussions held between SAK and the Swedish Trade Union Confederation - LO.