HAMBURG (dpa-AFX) - Port workers in Hamburg largely paralyzed operations at the container terminals with a warning strike on Friday. A spokesman for the Verdi trade union told the German Press Agency that the turnout for the first work stoppage in the current round of collective bargaining was high. According to the information, the strike began at 5.30 am. The strike was to last until late in the evening. Following the failure of the second round of negotiations between Verdi and the Central Association of German Seaport Operators (ZDS) in Wilhelmshaven on Wednesday and Thursday, the union wanted to increase the pressure on the employers with the warning strike. Around 11,000 employees are affected by the negotiations, 6,000 of them in Hamburg.

The strikes in Hamburg included the four container terminals of the logistics companies Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG) and Eurogate. "The majority of HHLA's subsidiaries in Hamburg are on strike," a spokeswoman for the company told dpa. This affects the container terminals Burchardkai (CTB), Altenwerder (CTA) and Tollerort (CTT), among others. "Operations at the terminals will therefore be largely suspended today due to the strike." According to the ship tracking service Vesselfinder, five large container ships, including the 400-metre-long "HMM Helsinki" with a cargo capacity of around 24,000 standard containers (TEU), were berthed at the Eurogate terminal and the CTB terminal alone on Friday afternoon.

The terminals were already working on resuming operations in the late evening and were planning further measures for the weekend to compensate for the strike-related downtime, said the HHLA spokeswoman. "These include extended opening hours for truck handling and additional rail handling during the night shift."

Verdi negotiator Maren Ulbrich justified the warning strike with what she sees as a completely inadequate offer from the employers. It meant no real real wage increase for the employees and the social component was also completely inadequate, she said. "The employees need a significant increase in their wages in order to be able to pay for the increased cost of living." With their inadequate offer, the employers had now provoked strikes.

Verdi is demanding, among other things, an increase in hourly wages of three euros retroactively to June 1 and a corresponding increase in shift bonuses for employees with a collective agreement term of twelve months. "It is important that the lower wage groups in particular receive significantly more income, as they have been hit particularly hard by inflation in recent years," said Ulbrich. In addition, the wage differences between the various groups must be reduced.

According to Verdi, the Central Association of German Seaport Operators has so far offered a wage increase of 2.5 percent, but at least 60 cents more per hour as of June 1. Shift allowances are to increase by 24 cents to 2.50 euros. The third round of negotiations is scheduled for June 17 and 18 in Hamburg./klm/DP/stw