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Let them tuck into lagkage: Maersk’s chief operating officer, Morten Engelstoft

‘Cake’ jibe sparks Maersk officers’ email protest

Wednesday 24 November 2010, 15:47

by David Osler 

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Campaign launched after chief operating officer tells staff to eat cake tocelebrate company’s third-quarter profit

OFFICERS on around 40 Maersk boxships have participated in anunprecedented email protest campaign, after Maersk Line’s chief operating officer Morten Engelstoft sent out a message enjoining seafarers to eat cake to celebrate the parentgroup’s $4.2bn third-quarter profit.

But seastaff — many of them dismayed at widespread job losses and stringent economy measures — were quick to spot the obvious parallel with the notorious ‘let them eat cake’remark by French Queen Marie-Antoinette, popularly seen as sparking the French revolution in 1789.

Mr Engelstoft told employees that the “everyday commitment” of seafarers to reducing costs had helped the bottom line and urged crews to join shore-based staff in Maersk’sCopenhagen headquarters in tucking into some traditional Danish cream cake, known as lagkage.

However, the request seems to have been taken badly. Mark Dickinson, general secretary of Anglo-Dutch seafarer union Nautilus International, commented: “Sadly, Maersk seemsto be as out of touch with their staff as the French royalty were to their people.”

He also pointed out that onboard catering budgets have been trimmed back to the point where kitchen towels have replaced paper serviettes, making it unlikely that such a delicacywould be on the menu.

“Instead of cake, seafarers are looking for genuine recognition of their contribution to Maersk’s recovery over the past year,” Mr Dickinson said. “This means delivering on our repeated requests for a job security agreement and a demonstrable commitment to the future of European officers, with a defined strategy for recruitment, training and retention.”

Lloyd’s List has seen a selection of the emails Nautilus claims were sent by its members to Maersk, starting with the one that commenced the chain of p rotest, which read: “I sincerelyhope the Danish lagkage become all of you well. On this vessel even buying the ingredients for that kind of cake is almost impossible due to cut in food budget not to mention [lackof] a cook capable of doing the job.

“We are saving and saving for the company to continue to have growth but we are also cutting down on humanity and working pride. We have in the fleet cut spending to minimumresulting in machinery being worn down before repair is possible. We are cutting down on manpower, jeopardising rest hours and thereby safety.”

Other seafarers then added their support to the riposte. One officer wrote: “We hope the management will open their eyes and also listen seriously to the cry from their employees,who are in the front line and feeling the consequences and certainly do not feel there is anything to celebrate, even if we get a cream cake for free.

“After more than four decades of employment in this company, I can only express my deepest and heartfelt concerns, but I am also offended by the arrogance, maybe caused byignorance, that prevails within the present management.”

But Maersk Line vice-president Soren Andersen countered: “To be honest, I was pretty surprised when I saw this strong reaction. To me, it just says that we need to work moreclosely together, in order not to get this sort of negative reaction in what is fundamentally a positive mention.”

 Asked if he accepted that Mr Engelstoft had been insensitive, he replied: “I don’t want to comment specifically on Nautilus’s message, but we had a positive intention. If we had notcelebrated, then that would have been wrong.”

 Article from Lloyd's List

http://www.lloydslist.com/ll/sector/ship-operations/article350574.ece

Published: Wednesday 24 November 2010

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