Six European shortsea and feeder ship operators have filed an official complaint to the European Commission, claiming that attempts of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) to force ships to use dockers for container lashing violate EU competition law.
In a letter to the Directorate-General for Competition dated 19 May 2020, the operators call for an official investigation into the ITF and affiliated Dutch union FNV Bondgnoten, and their campaign to compel operators to stand down seafarers from shipboard container lashing.