HAMBURG (dpa-AFX) - Another warning strike is underway at the Port of Hamburg. "The strike has started as planned with the early shift at 6.30 a.m.," said a spokesman for the Verdi trade union. The employees are initially striking decentrally in front of their workplaces, and there will be a demonstration on Wednesday.

With the all-day warning strikes in the Port of Hamburg on Tuesday and Wednesday, the trade union Verdi said it wanted to increase the pressure on employers in the wage negotiations for employees in seaports.

Verdi is demanding, among other things, an increase in hourly wages of three euros retroactively to June 1 and a corresponding increase in shift allowances for employees with a collective agreement term of twelve months. A further round of negotiations between Verdi and the Central Association of German Seaport Operators (ZDS) is planned for July 11 and 12 in Bremen. Warning strikes had already taken place in several northern German ports, including Hamburg, in June./clk/DP/mis