Izvansudska nagodba FSU-Viking Line

Finnish Seamen's Union and Viking Line bury hatchet -YLE

9.4.2008 at 20:17

The Finnish Seamen's Union and Viking Line have settled a drawnout dispute outside the European Court of Justice, the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) reported Wednesday.

YLE's A-studio programme, to be aired later Wednesday evening, will report that the parties have signed a secret agreement in March halting legal action over the registering of a Viking Line ferry in Estonia.

Both sides had incurred sizeable legal bills and there was no firm date for the resumption of the legal process.

In 2003, Viking Line said it would reflag MS Rosella in Estonia. The Finnish union responded by issuing a strike notice and was backed by the International Transport Workers' Federation.

Viking Line found the industrial action illegal and took the matter to a UK court, which subsequently produced a ruling widely thought to support the employer side. The union says an EU court ruling last year contradicts the British court's.

The row between Viking Line and the Finnish Seamen's Union had repercussions for the entire EU as a firm court ruling on the matter would have set the boundaries of industrial action aiming to prevent a company from relocating to another EU member state.

One of the key principles of the EU is the freedom of establishment.

/STT/

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