New Strike Notice Served to APM Terminals in Gothenburg

The industrial action at APM Terminals in Gothenburg, organized by the Swedish Dockworkers’ Union (Svenska Hamnarbetarförbundet, section 4), will be continued as the union served a new strike notice on May 3.

Namely, the dockworkers plan on stopping all operation at the terminal for 24 hours on May 17 at 16.00 and on May 24.

In addition to the strikes, the union has also left notice of an overtime blockade eight hours before and eight hours after each strike, according to APM Terminals.

“It is of course regrettable that we have received new notices of strike, and we realize that the actions will affect our customers in a negative way,” the operator added.

The union earlier said that the inability to reach an agreement on their demands with the employers after several rounds of talks has led to the industrial action.

As disclosed, the main requirements include demand for a separate collective agreement and decision on how many persons can participate in a negotiation. They also contain other issues related to job satisfaction at the terminal.

The new round of strikes follows the initial 24-hour walkouts undertaken by the dockworkers on April 26 and 28, which were not expected to affect other terminals at the Port of Gothenburg.

“Even though we have a dialogue with the unions, it will most likely unfortunately take several more days before we are back at our normal production levels,” APM Terminals said.

APM Terminals said the strikes were significantly impacting its operations.

“We have a high density in the yard as an effect of the strike which significantly impacts the goods flow through the terminal. At the same time we also have a high absence rate among our machine operators,” the operator added.

In its latest customer advisory, Hapag-Lloyd said that the strike at APM Terminals in Gothenburg continues and that the port has now closed the gates for delivery of export containers, adding that any additional costs as a result of this strike will be for the account of the cargo.

World Maritime News Staff