New offer made in wage dispute at German seaports

The Central Association of German Seaport Operators (ZDS) has presented an offer in the wage dispute over the pay of port workers.

It includes two options with different terms, each with a significant real wage increase, the association announced on Saturday. The trade union verdi announced that it would now present the offer to its members for a vote.

The ZDS and verdi spent two days in the northern port city of Bremen negotiating pay for around 11,000 employees from Hamburg, Bremen and the state of Lower Saxony. It was already the fourth round of negotiations in the wage dispute.

The wage dispute was accompanied by several strikes. Hundreds of employees had stopped work for days in ports across the north of Germany: Hamburg, Bremerhaven, Bremen, Wilhelmshaven, Emden and Brake.

According to the union, ZDS is offering an inflation compensation of €1,000 ($1,091) and an increase in hourly wages of €0.95 from January for a period of 12 months. Alternatively, the association could envisage an inflation adjustment of €1,400 and an increase in hourly wages of €1.15 for a term of 16 months. In both cases, employees would also receive higher shift allowances and €480 more holiday pay.

"The ZDS has once again increased its fair offer from the previous negotiations," the association announced after the renewed negotiations, without providing any details. "The level of the offer is at the limit of what can be borne and poses considerable economic challenges for the seaport companies."

The offer falls short of expectations, however, according to verdi. The union is demanding an increase in hourly wages of €3 for employees with retroactive effect from June 1 as well as a corresponding increase in shift allowances. The collective labour agreement is to run for 12 months.

However, the ZDS has taken up some of the demands, such as the increase in shift bonuses, the union announced. The members are now to form their own opinion and vote on the offer. The Federal Collective Bargaining Commission will then decide how to proceed at its meeting on August 22 and 23.

The ZDS is hoping for an agreement. "We are confident that we have found a long-term solution with the final offer and that this will restore confidence in the reliability of our ports," said Torben Seebold, lead negotiator for the ZDS.