News
A port worker strike in Germany has been averted, unlike the British port of Felixstowe, where some 19,000 workers are on strike until next Monday. Trade union ver.di and the Central Association of German Seaport Companies (ZDS) reached an agreement during their 10th round of talks earlier this week.
As negotiations on wage hikes between ver.di and ZDS had run into rough waters, the union, which represents about 12,000 dockworkers at the ports of Hamburg, Emden, Bremen/Bremerhaven and Wilhelmshaven, which account for approximately 70% of all, called on members to take part in a 24-hour warning strike in June and staged a 48-hour strike in July. Although a concern was raises about more labor disputed, ver.di and ZDS agreed on a 9.4% pay increase for those working at container terminals, a 7.9% increase for those at conventional cargo facilities retrospectively from July 1 and another pay hike of 4.4% from June 1, 2023, which includes a special inflation clause.
