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Port of Hamburg
Photo: Daniel Reinhardt / dpa
Due to a warning strike by dockers at Germany's major seaports, there is a risk of considerable delays in the handling of ships on Thursday.
The trade union Ver.di wants to increase the pressure on the central association of German seaport companies (ZDS) with the work stoppages lasting several hours in the third wage round this Friday in Hamburg.
The late shifts in the ports of Hamburg, Emden, Bremen, Bremerhaven and Wilhelmshaven were affected by the warning strikes.
Due to the high level of union membership among dockers - around 70 percent are in the union - observers expect a major impact on the loading and unloading of ships.
The employer side considers the warning strikes to be irresponsible and unacceptable.
Union wants inflation compensation
According to Ver.di, the warning strikers will meet in Hamburg at 3 p.m. at the container terminal Burchardkai (CTB) for a central strike meeting to emphasize their demands.
The Ver.di trade union demands, among other things, an unspecified "actual inflation compensation" and an increase in hourly wages of 1.20 euros for the around 12,000 employees in the 58 collectively agreed seaport companies in Hamburg, Lower Saxony and Bremen.
The employer side has so far offered an increase in two steps: this year and next year 3.2 and 2.8 percent more money as well as one-off payments totaling 600 euros.
Port operations are currently under extreme pressure as a result of the corona pandemic and the associated global chaos in container shipping.
Disrupted supply chains with delays of the container giants, some of which lasted weeks, have meant that there are hardly any parking spaces left in the ports, since containers that would otherwise be transported within a few hours now have to be stored temporarily.
On the other hand, more and more ships are waiting to be cleared and are already damming up in the German Bight.
beb/dpa
