Recently, port workers with a 24-hour warning strike largely paralyzed the handling of container and cargo ships in Germany’s major North Sea ports. Now it’s time to strike again.
In the German ports there is a strike for the third time within a few weeks. According to dpa information, the port workers want to stop work for 48 hours from Thursday. The Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) and the “Hamburger Abendblatt” had previously reported.
With the start of the early shift, work is scheduled to rest on Thursday. Ships will then probably no longer be processed. The warning strike is scheduled to last until 6 a.m. on Saturday, it would be the longest for more than 40 years. Around 12,000 people work in the 58 collective bargaining companies in Hamburg, Lower Saxony and Bremen.
A week ago, the sixth round of negotiations between the Verdi union and the Central Association of German Seaport Companies (ZDS) ended without a result. The employers had improved their offer again, they offer up to 12.5 percent spread over two years. Verdi calls for at least inflation compensation, and that for all employees. In addition, renegotiations are to take place after one year.
Demand for inflation compensation
“We need real inflation compensation so that employees in all companies are not left alone with the consequences of the galloping price increases,” Verdi negotiator Maya Schwiegershausen-Güth justified the Verdi collective bargaining committee’s no to the employer’s offer. The employers argued that they could not afford more “without endangering the continued existence of the company”.
Almost three weeks ago, port workers with the start of the early shift largely paralyzed the handling of container and cargo ships in Germany’s major North Sea ports with a 24-hour warning strike. The ports of Hamburg, Emden, Bremen, Bremerhaven, Brake and Wilhelmshaven were affected. Before that, there had been no walkouts among dockers for many years.
