Maersk tit-for-tat Gothenburg docker row results in 160 layo

Time: 2017-06-23 13:42
MAERSK port operator, APM Terminals (APMT), will lay off 36 per cent of its workforce in Port of Gothenburg, Sweden's main gateway harbour as part of simmering cold war between the union and management.
 
This, says APMT, results from a decline in volumes because of trade union blockades and strikes. The 160 layoffs leave 290 APMT still working.
 
Said APMT Gothenburg CEO Henrik Kristensen: "We are in a critical situation, where targeted blockades and strikes have been crippling our operation for over a year now, and where we have lost several of our customers."
 
In the last year, the terminal has experienced nine working days lost to strikes and 14 blockades.
 
"We are now faced with the necessity of winning back confidence and reshaping our operation to the current volume."
 
On May 19, APMT began a partial lockout at the container terminal, scheduled for weekdays between 4pm and 7am until June 30, in response to the planned Swedish Dockers Union (SDU) go-slow.
 
APMT Gothenburg has accepted every proposal that the mediators, chosen by the Swedish National Mediation Institute, have made to resolve the dispute, APMT said.  
 
Once the redundancy negotiations are completed, the terminal will be run on a two-shift basis, without any nighttime service.  
 
The only cellular loop connecting APMT Gothenburg to regions outside of North Europe is 2M's AE5/Albatross, from Maersk and MSC, according to American Shipper's BlueWater Reporting. The loop operates between Asia, the Mediterranean and North Europe, deploying 12 vessels with an average capacity of 18,319 TEU.
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