Before we talk about the strike at the new port, let’s review the details of the previous strike at the German port.
German dockworkers are due to go on strike for 48 hours from 6pm local time on July 14, following an impasse in wage negotiations with their employers.
According to Rail Transportation Service Broker GmbH; RTSB’s official notice states: They received notice of a 48-hour warning strike in Hamburg’s Port from 06:00 on July 14, 2022, All of Hamburg’s docks took part in the warning strike (CTA, CTB, CTT, EUROGATE/EUROKOMBI, BILLWERDER DUSS, STEINWEG SuD-West) All rail and truck operations will be temporarily halted — picking up and delivering goods during this time will be impossible.
The strike by 12,000 port workers, which will paralyze operations at major container hubs such as Hamburg, Bremerport and Wilhelmport, is the third in an increasingly bitter Labour dispute — the longest and Germany’s longest port strike in more than 40 years.
Hundreds of dockers in Liverpool are due to vote today on whether to strike over pay and conditions.
Unite said more than 500 workers at MDHC Container Services, a Peel Ports subsidiary of British billionaire John Whittaker, would vote on strike action, The action could bring Peel, one of the UK’s biggest container ports, to a “virtual standstill” by the end of August.
The union said the dispute was caused by MDHC’s failure to offer a reasonable pay rise, adding that the final 7 per cent rise was far below the current real inflation rate of 11.7 per cent. The union also highlighted issues such as wages, shift schedules and bonus payments agreed in the 2021 pay deal, which have not improved since 2018.
“Strike action will inevitably severely affect shipping and road transport and cause shortages in the supply chain, but this dispute is entirely of Peel’s own making. The union has held extensive negotiations with the company, but it has refused to address members’ concerns.” Said Steven Gerrard, the union’s local head.
As the second largest port group in the UK, Port Peel handles more than 70 million tonnes of cargo annually. A ballot on strike action will open on July 25 and close on August 15.
It is worth noting that Europe’s big ports can no longer afford to be thrown out. Dockworkers at Germany’s North Sea ports went on strike last week, the latest of several strikes that have largely paralysed cargo handling at major ports such as Hamburg, Bremerhaven and Wilhelmina.
Post time: Jul-21-2022