Political firing? :
A parliamentary politician wanted to return to his position at Hanstholm Port - but a dismissal awaited him.

Ib Poulsen (O) had actually expected to stay in his job as a harbor officer at Hanstholm Port after he failed to win re-election to the Danish Parliament in 2019. The politician had his severance pay from the Danish Parliament, and therefore he applied for an extension of his leave. The extension went through, but in the spring of 2021, he was informed that the Port of Hanstholm intended to fire him.

- I was shocked for a few days until I spoke to my union, Ib Poulsen says today.

It was not easy to fire him from the position as harbor officer. The Maersk-trained shipmaster got his job as a harbor officer in 1990 and the following year it became a civil servant position.

- At that time, the Port of Hanstholm was state-owned. When the port became municipal, I was offered a higher salary if I wanted to take on a new contract. I turned that down, because I would rather have security, says the politician, who ended up sitting in the Danish Parliament twice between 2007-2011 and again between 2015-2019, where he was his party's fisheries spokesman.

In addition to his time in the Danish Parliament, Ib Poulsen has also been a member of the Thisted city council since 2001, where he has ever since been a member of the municipality's important finance committee. The reason for Ib Poulsen's dismissal from his position was said to lie, among other things, in the port's organization.

- They thought there had been some structural changes, and it was only me who couldn't handle the changes, says Ib Poulsen, where his colleagues have gone from having the title of port officers to port assistants.

That's why Ib Poulsen ended up being fired in 2021 with a notice period that most people can only dream of.

- They ended up firing me too late, so I got a notice period of three years and three months. I get paid until September 2024 and then my civil servant pension. I had otherwise expected to work until I was 68, but they must have enough money, says Ib Poulsen, who as a member of the municipality's finance committee and thus knows the poor finances of the Port of Hanstholm.

The debt of 630 million. DKK after the port expansion to 650 million. DKK was the reason that the port went from being a self-governing port to a municipal port. It is a decision that Ib Poulsen himself has helped make.

Sources: Manager and colleague did not want Ib Poulsen back

DOI.dk has written about Hanstholm Port for more than a year based on extensive research and interviews. Here, centrally located sources report unanimously and without knowledge of each other's statements that the current port manager Søren Zohnesen worked very hard to ensure that Ib Poulsen did not return to his position after his leave. The sources also report that Søren Zohnesen openly stated that he did not want Ib Poulsen back to work at the port.

Søren Zohnesen and Ib Poulsen were dual colleagues, because Zohnesen was a port assistant until December 2020, when he was promoted to deputy director and operations manager at Hanstholm Port. At the same time, he sat on the Thisted city council for the Liberal Party, where Ib Poulsen has sat since 2001.

Today, Ib Poulsen is more than surprised to hear what the unnamed sources tell DOI.dk. He cannot recognize any kind of conflict with his old colleague.

- We have worked together in the harbor, but it was not for long. In the city council chamber, however, we have had political disagreements, says Ib Poulsen and adds:

- It should be such that you can be a member of the Red Unity Party, or any other party, without being subjected to political dismissal. That's been my feeling all along, that's what happened.

Doesn't set foot in the port office

Today, Ib Poulsen is busy with city council work, and his position on the finance committee also means that he comes on a harbor tour of Hanstholm Harbor.

- We were on a tour of the harbor last time, but I didn't want to go into the harbor office. Søren Zohnesen asked if I wanted to come along, but I said: No, you're paying me to stay away, says Ib Poulsen, who otherwise participated in all other visits to the harbor.

In addition to his work as a city councilor, Ib Poulsen finds time to breed hunting dogs of the Kleiner Münsterländer breed and fish from Stenbjerg Strand, where this spring day he caught a coveted edible fish that is in season right now.

- I caught 30 kg of sole, which came up at the auction and was sold for 200,- DKK per. kg, says Ib Poulsen.

On the Hanstholm Port website, you can also see that the port has a position posted as a harbour assistant.

DOI.dk has presented the accusations to the harbour manager Søren Zohnesen, who cannot comment for good reason.

- It is a personnel matter that I cannot comment on, says Søren Zohnesen.

With the position of harbour assistant, which has just been posted, it is different.

- It is true that the positions as harbour assistant and harbour officer are at odds with each other, says Søren Zohnesen, who is no longer on the city council today, because he was not re-elected at the municipal elections in November 2021.

Screenshot of the job posting that was on the Hanstholm Port website on April 20 at 8:55, at the same time that Ib Poulsen is being paid to stay home during his notice period, which runs until September 2024.

Update: In an earlier version of this article, it appears that Ib Poulsen fishes from Hanstholm Port - but he fishes from Stenbjerg Strand.