Truckers blockade Danish ports

chran

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chran
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Denmark, yo
Right now, Danish truckers are blocking three or four ports all over Denmark and also the border crossing at Padborg.

They are fed up with, what they consider, arbitrary enforcement of driving regulations, and huge fines being doled out retroactively. They say it's unfair that they are being singled out and want the minister of justice, Lene Espersen, to do something about it.

The blockade is expected to spread througout the night, effectively putting a stop to all truck traffic in or out of Denmark. Internal traffic will also be effected since trucks are reported heading to Storebæltsbroen.

This means no trade with neighbouring countries and no restocking of supermarkets. The last time this happened, in 1998, fisticuffs broke out over the last packets of yeast in the shops. No, really.

The blockade could last for a couple of weeks or more.

Politiken.dk (in Danish).
 
...and right during the middle of an election.

Timing is everything, they say... :D
 
I am not familiar with Danish law, but is it legal for them to do this? That seems pretty extreme.
 
Normal Dude said:
I am not familiar with Danish law, but is it legal for them to do this? That seems pretty extreme.
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The police isn't going to react. The chief of police in Frederikshavn (the first port picketed), says: "This is part of a trade conflict, and as such we're not going to react. We will only clear the blockade if rescue vehicles need to pass".
Politiken.dk (in Danish).
 
chran said:
The police isn't going to react. The chief of police in Frederikshavn (the first port picketed), says: "This is part of a trade conflict, and as such we're not going to react. We will only clear the blockade if rescue vehicles need to pass".
Politiken.dk (in Danish).
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Aren't they impeding the operation of other businesses who have nothing to do with this?
 
Normal Dude said:
Aren't they impeding the operation of other businesses who have nothing to do with this?
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It isn't illegal to go on a strike. Not even when it is "illegal". When a strike is "illegal", it simply means that it is outside the agreement by employers and employees. It isn't about breaking a law or anything.

In Denmark, the employers and the employees are left to sort out whatever working conditions there should be. Wages, overtime pay, etc. are matters between employers and employees.

The situation has to be extremely severe, before the government will even consider stepping in. We are not talking about interrupting business, we are talking about situations where the stability of society is at stake. And even then, it is very much criticized when the government steps in. I can't even recall the last time that happened.

Overenskomst (Collective bargaining)
 
chran said:
Yes. Supermarkets, whole-salers, and every other business dependant on goods delivered via truck are going to be affected by this.
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Which means regular citizens are going to be affected. I do not know the accuracy of the report or the activity level of the average Danish citizen - but I would likely be voting for whoever clamps down on whichever side is morally wrong - police or truckers.


As a side note, I personally always believe blocking legal movement of persons - vehicular or foot is wrong. (You want to lose my support fast? Block a road/pathway I need to use - except for emergencies.)
 
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fuelair said:
Which means regular citizens are going to be affected. I do not know the accuracy of the report or the activity level of the average Danish citizen - but I would likely be voting for whoever clamps down on whichever side is morally wrong - police or truckers.


As a side note, I personally always believe blocking legal movement of persons - vehicular or foot is wrong. (You want to lose my support fast? Block a road/pathway I need to use - except for emergencies.)
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No legal movement of persons is being blocked. Only legal movement of goods.

Private citizens, police, ambulances, etc, are allowed to pass... Everything, except truckers is blocked.

So we have one group of truckers blocking other truckers from going about their business...

Kinda like, having programmers prevent other programmers from program, but you can still use all the programs in existence if you want, as can everyone else, even the programmers, as long as they don't program.....
 
WildCat said:
Why does the government allow the legal movement of goods to be blocked by these truckers? Does the law allow for such a thing?
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So when people took to the streets to protest the Iraq war, does the law allow for those people to block the legal movements of caps, buses, and goods blocked by these protesters?

This is a concept called civil disobedience*, it really is quite normal for the police to do nothing in those sorts of cases, even in the grand US of A


*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_disobedience
 
TobiasTheCommie said:
How can it not be legal for them to do that?

Denmark isn't a fascist dictatorship you know...
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That isn't what I meant. I was question them holding the roads hostage but I did not realize that they were allowing private citizens to pass. If they weren't I would have serious problems with them.
 
quixotecoyote said:
Not to my knowledge, no.
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Should people be arrested for it?

Normal Dude said:
That isn't what I meant. I was question them holding the roads hostage but I did not realize that they were allowing private citizens to pass. If they weren't I would have serious problems with them.
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and now that you know that private citizens(and everyone but truckers) can pass? Feeling better about it now? :)
 
quixotecoyote said:
Well if you don't arrest protesters for illegally preventing private citizens from engaging in trade, you aren't upholding the law.
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Hm, i must say i disagree, guess many officers didn't uphold the law by arresting everyone who protested that blocked caps....
 
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