The porters in Nuuk will cease work and their tasks on June 26 for 59 minutes, from 10 to 11 in the morning. This is stated by the chairman of the porters’ association, Ludvig Larsen, to Sermitsiaq.
Sulinermik Inuussutissarsiuteqartut Kattuffiat, SIK, negotiates with the Self-Government on the porters’ working conditions and wages. The collective agreement, which expired on 1 April, has not yet been renewed. And that creates impatience.
The porters in Nuuk will cease work and their tasks on June 26 for 59 minutes, from 10 to 11 in the morning. This is stated by the chairman of the porters’ association, Ludvig Larsen, to Sermitsiaq.
Sulinermik Inuussutissarsiuteqartut Kattuffiat, SIK, negotiates with the Self-Government on the porters’ working conditions and wages. The collective agreement, which expired on 1 April, has not yet been renewed. And that creates impatience.
– Our salary is not keeping up, while the prices of goods and bills are constantly rising. That is why the porters do this to support the retailers, says the chairman.
Five minute negotiation
The chairman says that when the parties, i.e. SIK and Selvstyret, met most recently to negotiate the porters’ conditions, the meeting did not last long.
– According to the information we have received from SIK’s department, the dealers last met for five minutes. It shows how far they are from each other. Therefore, there is a need to take the next step, the employees are impatient to get a pay rise, says Ludvig Larsen.
When the collective agreement, which expired in April, was negotiated in 2022, the porters also stopped work.
– In the most recent collective bargaining agreement, a salary increase of 8 percent over four years was achieved, says the chairman.
But he believes that it is no longer sufficient.
– At that time, the increases were eroded in relation to the price increases of goods and bills since 2022. Our salary is no longer enough for purchases. We hope it can do it again.
Now they want at least a result to be achieved that corresponds to the latest collective agreement result.
– If we can achieve at least 8 percent over four years, we can live with that.
Urgent tasks are not stopped
If tasks arise during the layoff that absolutely must be solved, they will be carried out.
– We put the regular tasks on hold. We will temporarily no longer serve patients who need X-rays, surgery or are picked up from the city, just as we will not serve arriving and departing patients either. Except in emergency cases.
– This means that if there is, for example, a person with a cardiac arrest or someone who is about to have a seizure, we will pick them up because these are urgent cases, says Ludvig Larsen.
In Nuuk there are 22 porters, and including replacements there are around 30.
