The management of AS HKScan Estonia has accepted the offer of the Union of Industrial and Metalworkers' Trade Unions to continue negotiations, to discuss the workers' wage demands and technical issues related to the strike. The meeting will take place on 1 February at 11.00.
According to Artyom Arkhangelsky, Organising Secretary of the Estonian Trade Union Confederation, negotiating during a strike is common practice and one does not exclude the other: "Workers want to reach an agreement with the employer, but until such an agreement is reached, the strike is still on".
The second issue at the meeting will be to discuss the technical details of the strike to ensure its safety. The law obliges the parties to cooperate to ensure the safety and security of the company. "We also need to agree where striking workers will be during the strike," said Arkhangelsky.
According to the strike notice sent by AS HKScan Estonia, the workers of the Rakvere slaughterhouse are demanding an increase in basic wages of 16% starting from 1 February 2018 and another 16% starting from 1 July 2018. They are also demanding that the procedure for performance-based pay should remain the same.
You can support the strikers by transferring money to the strike fund account EE162200221068524734, which is managed by the Estonian Confederation of Industrial and Metalworkers' Trade Unions.