Two-day strike action called at ports of Hamburg and Bremerhaven

Workers at the ports of Hamburg and Bremerhaven have started two-day strike action, initiated by the United Services Trade Union (Verdi) and beginning on July 9, to increase pressure on employers before the fourth round of negotiations with the Central Association of German Seaport Operators (ZDS). 

Collective bargaining negotiations between both parties will continue on July 11 and 12 in Bremen with Verdi calling for a €3 (US$3.24) hourly wage increase and a corresponding increase in shift allowances, including a catch-up for the missing increase in shift allowances in the 2022 collective agreement, with a term of the collective agreement of 12 months. 

Maren Ulbrich, Verdi negotiator, said: “In the third round of negotiations, we were still far apart. The offer presented by the employers is not acceptable to us. The employers still have to make some progress, particularly on the wage increases offered.