German dock workers have downed tools in ports across the country as heated wage negotiations between the United Services Union (ver.di) and port operators continue this week.
Ver.di called on workers in the Ports of Bremen and Wilhelmshaven to hold full-shift warning strikes on Wednesday and Thursday, while employees in the Ports of Hamburg and Bremerhaven were called on to hold warning strikes, on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Workers at the Port of Emden are striking on Wednesday only.
The strike action is intended to increase pressure on employers before the fourth round of wage negotiations with the Central Association of German Seaport Operators in Bremen from July 11 to 12.
“In the third round of negotiations, we were still far apart,” said ver.di negotiator Maren Ulbrich.
“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,” she said.
The union said in a statement that it hopes that the expansion of warning strikes will send “another very clear signal to the employers that the employees are serious about their demands.”
Ver.di is calling for an increase in hourly wages of three euros as of June 1, as well as a corresponding increase in shift allowances, including a catch-up for the missing increase in shift allowances in the 2022 collective agreement.
“It is important that the lower wage groups in particular are given financial relief through the wage increases. Inflation in recent years has hit them particularly hard,” Ulbrich said.
“In addition, the wage differences between the various groups must be reduced. And there must also be an increase in real wages in the upper wage groups.”
