Container Flow Resumes in Rotterdam as Court Orders Strikers Back to Work

The lashers working in the Port of Rotterdam who handle containers were ordered back to work for the next four days. A court found with a coalition of their employers and businesses that argued the strike was having a disproportionate impact and could threaten supply chains.

The workers have been on strike since last Wednesday, October 8, and on Friday, extended their strike indefinitely. A spokesperson for the Port of Rotterdam told The Maritime Executive that they were experiencing “major backlogs.” They reported that as of Monday, 33 vessels were waiting in the anchorage areas, including 15 deep-sea containerships.

The port companies said the back-to-work order, which is temporary, was not ideal but would let them load and offload a few of the vessels while talks resumed. They forecasted that the current backlog would take till late October to clear, and if the strike is extended, the delays would easily continue into November.

The Port of Rotterdam, in a statement issued over the weekend, said, “We remain of the opinion that the action is currently causing disproportionate damage and putting serious pressure on the security of supply.”

The union, FNV, dismissed the claims, saying the delays and disruptions from the strike did not rise to the level of broad social impact required by law to intervene in the strike. They said the delays were “inconvenient,” but not urgent. The court, however, disagreed and told the lashers to resume work at 0700 on Monday. If no settlement is reached, they can resume the strike on Friday, October 17.

The union has been demanding a seven percent wage increase on top of the current automatic inflation indexing. On Friday, the union lowered its demand to 6.5 percent, but the two companies that employ the lashers are still rejecting the demand as too high. Both sides agreed to resume negotiations on Sunday.

The Port of Rotterdam said it hopes the lashers and their employers can reach an agreement this week at the negotiating table. The court has already warned that the business coalition could seek further injunctions if the strike resumes on Friday.

Delays have been mounting for containerships as well as other commercial vessels, as the Belgian union representing pilots also began a work slowdown last week. It is protesting the state’s pension reforms. As of Monday evening, the union is reporting that a total of 133 ships are now waiting, including 36 waiting for a pilot to leave the port of Antwerp. A total of 89 inbound vessels for the three Belgian ports are waiting offshore in the anchorages, and Belgium’s delays are expected to grow with the national organizations having called a nationwide strike for Thursday.