A GERMAN locomotive drivers strike is under way and threatens to clog container yards at the country's leading ports and cause disruption to supply chains, reports Newark's Journal of Commerce.
The strike will hit the steel, chemicals and auto sectors the hardest, but it will also affect containers to and from Germany's largest ports, Hamburg and Bremen/Bremerhaven, which rely on rail more than other hubs.
The six-day strike by the militant the Gewerkschaft Deutscher Lokomotivfuhrer (GDL) drivers union, the eighth since January is the longest in the history of Deutsche Bahn, the state-owned railway.
This strike started with freight trains and then spread to passenger services. The union called the strike at short notice, which prevented rail freight customers, including container transport firms, from taking pre-emptive action, including turning to road transport.
The GDL, which represents 20,000 drivers, wants a five per cent wage increase, a 37-hour work week from 39 hours and the right to negotiate for 180,000 other DB workers.
PORTS
06 May 2015 - 21:17
German rail strike hits box ports, steel, auto and chemicals hardest
A GERMAN locomotive drivers strike is under way and threatens to clog container yards at the country's leading ports and cause disruption to supply chains, reports Newark's Journal of Commerce.
PORTS
06 May 2015 - 21:17
German rail strike hits box ports, steel, auto and chemicals hardest
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