HHLA Reaches Agreement with Union ver.di in Wage Dispute

Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) has reached an agreement with the service union ver.di on a new collective agreement for the HHLA companies SCA and SCB. A compromise has been found to regulate weekend work. The tariff policy-wise reasonable regulation takes into account the interests of the company and the employees.

(Hamburg) The negotiations between Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) as the employer and the service union ver.di regarding a new collective agreement for the HHLA service companies SCA and SCB have been successfully concluded. Thus, the wage dispute has been resolved.

HHLA’s Chief Human Resources Officer Torben Seebold: “We are very pleased that we have reached an agreement with ver.di on an innovative future model for the reliable coverage of weekend shifts – also in terms of high handling quality at our container terminals. This has created the prerequisite for work to be reliably organized on weekends within the framework of the collectively regulated working hours. This is a tariff policy-wise reasonable regulation that we have aimed for and can now implement. With the agreed solution, reliable ship handling at HHLA and the employees’ need for a predictable private life are sustainably reconciled. Together with ver.di, we have laid the foundation to further develop the existing working time systems in the aforementioned sense for the future.”

Weekend Coverage Secured

In particular, the fundamental change in regular working hours from Monday to Sunday to a model with voluntary weekend work demanded by ver.di had burdened the wage negotiations. The compromise now provides for various flexible working time models. Employees can choose from different annual deployment planning models (JEP) with a varying number of weekend shifts (maximum every third weekend). They commit to such a model for one year. This makes weekend shifts more predictable for both the company and the employees.

This ensures reliable weekend coverage, as is practiced at most other port locations in northern Germany. At HHLA’s terminals in the Port of Hamburg, ships are handled 24/7 on 360 days a year to ensure the supply of goods to people and businesses in Germany and many parts of Europe. HHLA can continue to ensure this supply mandate in light of the solution now found.

Operational Stability of the Service Companies and Terminals

During the wage negotiations, which affected 360 employees, there were warning strikes at the HHLA service companies SCA and SCB, which temporarily disrupted operations at the Altenwerder and Burchardkai container terminals. With the end of the wage dispute and the associated strike measures, full operational capability has been restored even during the challenging Corona pandemic.

Photo: © HHLA / Martin Elsen