Was fired and described as a security threat – employee takes a fight

Erik Helgeson is delayed. When he got in the car, he drove, without thinking, to the harbor on the other side of the river. The one who has been his workplace for 20 years, and his parents' before him.

– I still have a hard time taking it in, he says.

When DN meets the port worker, he has been notified of dismissal, but does not know why. Several weeks later, several question marks still remain. Erik Helgeson is vice chairman of the trade union Harbor Workers' Union, and his case has raised harsh criticism from both colleagues and other trade unions. The municipal council's vice chairman in Gothenburg, the left -wing party Daniel Bernmar, has demanded that the employer apologize for violating Erik Helgeson's human rights.

The message came at the beginning of February. Erik Helgeson was notified due to the « violation of the Security Protection Act and unfairness linked to the Security Protection Act ». More than that, he did not know. But in an email to Sweden's Radio, the employer, the company Gothenburg Roro Terminal, wrote that an employee was notified « with regard to the security of the state ».

– You get pretty cut, says Erik Helgeson.

In connection with the dismissal, the port worker was told that he had been reported to the police. The background was a blockade that the Port Workers' Union has planned since December and which Erik Helgeson has commented on in the media. The blockade was that the union members would refuse to unload and load military equipment that was sent between Israel and Sweden – if they discovered such a thing. The goal was to protest against the war in Gaza.

The police report was made by the port's security company, which referred to an article in the Gothenburg Post. In the text, Erik Helgeson explains how he and his colleagues can find military equipment with connection to Israel, and says, among other things, that the port workers have information about where the goods come from and where it should.

– In this way we can find goods to and from Israel, and then we must be quick -footed to investigate if it is defense equipment, says Erik Helgeson in the article.

The security company believes that the port worker urges others to map military equipment in the harbor. The notifier emphasizes that the content of the port's containers and trailers is security classified, and states that what is in the article can damage the port protection and thus also Sweden's security.

Erik Helgeson refuses to the charges. He notes that the trade union has carried out several blockades in the past, and that the routines are clear. If the port workers discover a load that they suspect is covered by the blockade, the port or the responsible shipping company is contacted. Should the suspicion be true, the members of the union simply refuse to handle the goods.

– To interpret « fast -footed » literally – that we would break into the loads … It is criminal, whether it is going on a blockade or not, says Erik Helgeson.

Shortly after the police report was prepared, the investigation was closed. The preliminary investigator stated that no secret information was cleared in the newspaper article.

But gothenburg roro terminal States that Erik Helgeson should be dismissed. In the motivation, the company writes that the employee « has incurred himself and the company great attention on sensitive and security -declining issues ». Erik Helgeson is said to have acted in a way that jeopardizes the company's customer relationships and task in Sweden's total defense. Exactly what this is about is not clear, but the conclusion is that the port worker is no longer seen as reliable and loyal against the interests that are protected in the Security Protection Act. The company also mentions two situations where the port worker must have behaved inappropriately at work.

Erik Helgeson and the Harbor Workers' Union The charges reject, and describe the dismissal as a targeted attack on the trade union. John Nordmark, who is the labor law representative for the Port Workers' Union, emphasizes that a trade union representative must not be punished for a blockade that the association's members have agreed.

– Anyone who represents the willingness to members must be protected, he says.

According to the union, the inappropriate behavior that the company refers to is that Erik Helgeson raised his voice in connection with a conflict with a head five years ago and that he « breathed and moaned » during a union negotiations barely two years ago.

– It does not matter at all for this, says John Nordmark.

Gothenburg Roro Terminal Do not want to answer DN's questions, referring to a personnel case. The company's CEO Maria Franksen has previously rejected the charges that the company was trying to silence critics.

« We welcome union work, » she told DN in January.

Erik Helgeson has reported his employer for slander. The Port Workers' Union plans to annul the dismissal and is ready to take the conflict to the court if the employer stands. Meanwhile, Erik Helgeson continues to work union – and to long for his job.

– The only thing I want is to come back, he says.

Read more:

Port workers are notified of unfairness and security violations

Trade union workers notified – companies are accused of trying to silence critics