Seaport companies and the Verdi union have been wrangling over wages for a long time – including several warning strikes. Now there is an increased offer.
In the wage dispute over the pay of dock workers, the Central Association of German Seaport Companies (ZDS) has submitted an offer. It includes two options with different terms, each with a significant increase in real wages, the association announced on Saturday. The Verdi union announced that it would now submit the offer to its members for a vote.
For two days, ZDS and Verdi had been wrangling in Bremen over the pay of around 11,000 employees from Hamburg, Bremen and Lower Saxony. It was already the fourth round of negotiations in the wage dispute.
The wage dispute was accompanied by several warning strikes. Hundreds of employees had stopped work for days in the ports of Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Bremen, Wilhelmshaven, Emden and Brake.
Employers make two proposals
According to the union, ZDS is offering inflation compensation of 1,000 euros and an increase in hourly wages of 0.95 euros from January – for a period of twelve months. Alternatively, the association could imagine inflation compensation of 1,400 euros and an increase in hourly wages of 1.55 euros for a period of 16 months. In both cases, employees will also receive higher shift allowances and 480 euros more holiday pay.
“The ZDS has once again increased its fair offer from the previous negotiations,” the association announced after the renewed negotiations, without giving any details. “The amount of the offer is at the limit of what can be sustained and poses considerable economic challenges for the seaport operators.”
Decision to be made at the end of August
Verdi, however, says that the offer falls short of expectations. The union is demanding, among other things, an increase in hourly wages of three euros and a corresponding increase in shift allowances for employees, retroactive to June 1. The collective agreement is to run for twelve months.
However, ZDS has taken up some demands, such as an increase in shift allowances, the union said. The members should now form their own opinion and vote on the offer. The Federal Tariff Commission will then decide how to proceed at its meeting on August 22 and 23.
ZDS hopes for an agreement. “We are confident that with the final offer we have found a long-term solution and that we will thereby restore confidence in the reliability of our ports,” said Torben Seebold, negotiator for the ZDS.
Source: Stern
