GHY Tradelines

(BBC News)

About 450 workers agreed to a pay increase of 9.8%, after initially demanding a hike of more than 20%.

Cargo was delayed at the terminal resulting in a backlog of thousands of containers.

The container terminal is controlled by Hong Kong billionaire, and Asia’s richest man, Li Ka-shing.

Union leaders said the deal was a success, as the pay rise was for all workers, not just those who went on strike, and also addressed complaints about working conditions at the port. Read more here.
 

(Journal of Commerce)

Li Ka-shing a Chinese billionaire with investments in container port facilities around the world, including in Hong Kong, has moved to end a four-week strike affecting operations at Hongkong International Terminals in Hong Kong by hiring new workers to handle ships and demanding protesters leave his building in the city’s Central District, Bloomberg Businessweek reports. Read more here.

Related: Shipping Industry Hit Hard by Dock Strike (South China Morning Post)
 

(David Badger – Lloyd’s Loading List)

With no end in sight to the Kwai Tsing dock strike, shippers have worked out a back-up plan to move Hong Kong cargo through ports in Guangdong.

The Hong Kong Shippers’ Council told reporters Guangdong Customs had agreed to speed up clearance of diverted shipments. The move follows the visit by a joint delegation from the council and the Federation of Hong Kong Industries to the province earlier this week. Read more here.
 

(BBC News)

German airline Lufthansa has cancelled the majority of its flights scheduled for Monday due to a strike over pay. The airline said only 32 of its flights would run as planned, out of more than 1,700 originally scheduled.

Flights to and from London, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow, Dublin, Aberdeen and Edinburgh will be hit. German airports affected are Frankfurt, Munich, Dusseldorf and Hamburg. Read more here.
 

(Cargonews Asia)

A dock contractor at the centre of a weeks-old pay dispute dropped a bombshell on striking dockers… announcing it would put up the shutters after June 30. Global Stevedoring Service said it could not keep up its business any more with about three-quarters of its 170 dockers on strike for 22 days – and counting, reported the South China Morning Post.

Another main contractor that had also been mired in the row said it did not intend to follow suit as its operation had been recovering from the mass walkout at the Kwai Tsing Container Terminals that started on March 28. Read more here.
 

(Journal of Commerce)

A strike at the Kwai Tsing Container Terminal in the Port of Hong Kong has entered a 12th day, with no negotiations planned to resolve the dispute, BBC reports.

Dockworkers and crane operators are requesting a pay increase of nearly 20% to keep up with inflation over the past decade. The port operator, Hongkong International Terminals, has distanced itself from the dispute, saying that it does not directly hire the workers and therefore cannot negotiate with them. Read more here.
 

(Cargonews Asia)

The dispute between striking dockers and the container port operator Hongkong International Terminals (HIT) escalated yesterday, with thousands of workers and their supporters staging a protest march.

Meanwhile, the city’s 20,000 truck drivers were urged to show their support by going on sick leave today, reported the South China Morning Post.

As the strike entered its 11th day, the 500 dockworkers on strike marched with their supporters from Causeway Bay’s Victoria Park to Central’s Cheung Kong Centre – where tycoon Li Ka-shing works – and then on to the government’s Tamar headquarters in Admiralty. Port operator HIT is a subsidiary of Li’s Hutchison Whampoa. Read more here.
 

(Journal of Commerce)

Strikes by dockworkers at Hong Kong’s container facilities continued today, further disrupting truck operations to and from facilities in the Kwai Tsing area of the port.

The numbers of strike workers have risen since late last week near facilities operated by Hongkong International Terminals, a subsidiary of Hutchinson Port Holdings Trust. Dockworkers are striking over salaries they claim have only been bumped once in the last 15 years despite soaring living costs in Hong Kong, and are campaigning for a pay rise of up to 20%. Read more here.
 

(Journal of Commerce)

The Port of Jawaharlal Nehru (Nhava Sheva) is at a standstill as dockworkers at India’s largest container gateway take part in a nationwide 48-hour general strike.

“All the three container terminals in the port are simply idling. There is no movement in the harbor, including loading or offloading intermodal trains,” a port official said.

Nearly 60% of India’s total containerized export and import cargo moves through Nhava Sheva. Officials said several ships are stranded at the outer anchorage for berth, and many more are scheduled to arrive. Read more here.
 

(Journal of Commerce)

Ocean carriers calling at Vallarpadam International Container Transshipment Terminal in India’s Port of Cochin announced plans to implement a “trade surcharge” to compensate for loss of business in the wake of an indefinite strike by container trailer drivers. Unionized drivers walked off the job Feb. 4, calling for wage increases and additional benefits.

“The situation has deteriorated to such an extent that ship operators are left with no other alternative but to impose a cost-recovery surcharge,” a feeder line representative at Cochin said. He said feeder operators between Cochin and the port of Colombo, Sri Lanka, would start levying a surcharge of $100 per 20-foot-equivalent unit until further notice. A trade notice is expected to be issued shortly. Read more here.
 

(STR Trade Report)

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued the following general vessel, cargo and entry guidelines in the event of a trade disruption due to a workers’ strike at East and Gulf Coast vessel ports. CBP states that these instructions should assist the trade in developing contingency plans for the possible diversion of vessels and cargo scheduled for discharge at U.S. ports. CBP emphasizes that these procedures are only applicable during the disruptive event and that it will publish a notice when these interim procedures are terminated and normal processing resumes.
Read more »

(Paul Davidson — USA TODAY)

A looming dockworkers’ strike that’s threatening to shut down seaports in the Eastern U.S. could keep some spring merchandise off store shelves, hamper U.S. exports and idle factory production lines.

“Commerce is going to stop, sales are going to be lost and competition will go to foreign supplers,” says Sheila Hewitt, vice president of logistics company Transplace. With the economy still sluggish and Congress at loggerheads over federal budget cuts that could tip the nation back into recession, “The strike could exacerbate an already delicate situation.”

Ports from Maine to Texas would largely close down if the United States Maritime Alliance — which represents port operators and shipping companies — can’t reach a deal with the International Longshoremen’s Association before a contract extension expires at midnight Dec. 29. A federal mediator on Monday called a meeting with the two sides but has not released any updates. Read more here.
 

(Cameron McWhirter — WSJ)

More than 14,500 Longshoreman from Boston to Houston threaten to halt unloading containers

The looming prospect of a longshoremen’s strike at 15 ports from Boston to Houston as early as Dec. 30 has shippers and retailers pleading with the union and cargo carriers to avert a major trade disruption that would affect businesses across the eastern U.S.

The International Longshoremen’s Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance Ltd., a group of container companies and port associations, remain far apart in negotiations begun last March over a six-year contract covering container work at the ports.

Port authorities along the coast, which aren’t part of the negotiations but would be effectively shut down by a strike, are bracing for a walkout by 14,650 longshoremen. Read more here.
 

(Alex Lennane — The Loadstar)

The US National Retail Federation (NRF) has urged President Obama to step in to prevent an east and gulf coast port strike, following the breakdown of talks between the US Maritime Alliance (USMX) and the International Longshoremen’s Association union over the issue of container royalties. Both parties have blamed the other for rejecting to prolong the 90-day extension, brought into force when the previous contract expired at the end of September.

“The retail industry, once again, calls on President Obama to engage directly in the negotiations,” said Jonathan Gold, NRF vice president for supply chain and customs policy. “The president should utilize all available tools, including Taft-Hartley, to eliminate even the threat of a strike or lockout. The time for leadership is now.”

The economic impact of the recent strikes at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles was about $2.5bn per day, according to Sean Strawbridge, managing director of Trade Relations and Port Operations of the Port of Long Beach.

The east coast strike was averted just before the ports’ busiest time of the year in September when the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service became involved and suggested the extension. But a second extension is looking increasingly unlikely, say both parties. Read more here.
 

(STR Trade Report)

U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports that port operations at Los Angeles and Long Beach, which had been shut down for about a week due to a union strike, were restored on Dec. 5. To alleviate the backlog of vessels that are anchored in the harbor, CBP Los Angeles is conducting vessel boardings to initiate the entry/clearance requirements so these vessels can dock at terminals as they open. Other actions being taken include the following:

- allowing for flexible boarding request(s) to include anchor boardings in preparation for arrival/discharge

- extending gate hours of operation at all terminals to include shifts from 3:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. if necessary

- extending internal watch commander work tours to address questions or concerns from the shipping community

- providing additional CBP personnel to accommodate non-intrusive inspection appointments at the terminals

- deploying additional CBP personnel at terminals with high alarm rates at the radiation portal monitor sites

- providing additional CBP personnel to staff the Trade Interface Unit to accommodate inquiries from the trade community

- extending operating hours at the container examination stations to support increased demands for cargo examinations and cargo releases
 

(The Loadstar)

The 14 strike-hit container terminals in the US west coast ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will resume working operations later today after an agreement over contract negotiations was reached as executives from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services (FMCS) arrived at the port last night.

The strike by clerical workers protesting against alleged plans to outsource their jobs to Texas and Taiwan, among other places, drew support from dockers in the International Longshoremen and Warehouse Union and shut down large parts of the LA-Long Beach complex – the country’s largest container gateway – for eight days, but a tentative agreement was reached between the Harbour Employers Association, representing the terminals, and the ILWU Office 634 Office Clerical Unit

Local media outfits reported FMCS director George Cohen as saying: “The parties reached their own agreement. There is no question in my mind that collective bargaining is the best example of industrial democracy in action.”

However, the clearing the box backlog could take well into the New Year, The Loadstar has learned. Read more here.
 

(Reuters)

A national coalition of U.S. business groups is urging an end to a strike at the twin California ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach amid fears that a prolonged stand-off will cost the American economy many billions of dollars, and could even spread to the east coast.

Trade groups led by the National Retail Federation have sent letters to U.S. President Barack Obama and leading members of Congress asking them to intervene and help end the strike at America’s two busiest container harbor facilities. Those industry groups say the strike, which entered its sixth day on Sunday, is already costing $1 billion a day.

The labor dispute has been triggered by 500 clerical workers at the ports, members of the relatively small Office of Clerical Union Workers. Their industrial action and clout has been significantly strengthened because some 10,000 members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union have supported them, refusing to cross the clerical workers’ picket lines. Read more here.
 

(Ronald White — LAT)

A walkout of union workers that began at the Port of Los Angeles’ biggest and busiest cargo terminal Tuesday was spreading to more terminals there and to the neighboring Port of Long Beach, according to port officials.

The expanding walkout had the potential to broadly shut down operations at the two ports, which together are the seventh busiest commercial harbor in the world.

The two ports handle more than 40% of the nation’s ocean-shipped imports from Asia. They also make up the busiest gateway for U.S. exports headed for sale overseas.

The walkout involves a long-simmering labor dispute that pits a small union of clerical workers against some of the world’s largest ocean-shipping lines and cargo-terminal operators. Read more here.
 

(Joseph Bonney – Journal of Commerce)

Surcharges will take effect if ports shut down in labor dispute

Several container ship lines have announced congestion surcharges that will take effect if East or Gulf coast ports are closed in connection with the International Longshoremen’s Association contract expiration.

The carriers are required to provide 30-day notice of the surcharges, which will be rescinded if the ports stay open. Read more here.
 

(Reuters)

Deutsche Lufthansa, Germany’s biggest airline, canceled hundreds of flights in Frankfurt, Berlin and Munich on Tuesday as cabin crew launched a second round of strikes in a row over pay and conditions. The strike action follows a walkout on Friday that left 26,000 passengers stranded and caused millions of euros in lost revenues.

“It is difficult for the company to cushion the impact. We cannot just get new flight attendants, and the personnel buffer is limited,” Lufthansa spokesman Klaus Walther said.

While Germany has a track record of mostly harmonious labor relations compared with other major European countries such as France, its airlines and airports have been hit by a string of disputes in recent years as companies battle to cut costs to cope with the rise of low-cost carriers, soaring fuel prices, fast-growing Middle East airlines and an air travel tax. Read more here.