German Stevedore Cuts White Collar Hours

BLG, biggest Bremen/Bremerhaven stevedore, puts 250 on short time

BLG Logistics, the biggest stevedore in Bremen/Bremerhaven, cut the hours of 250 white collar workers after container and auto cargoes slumped in the twin German ports.

 

The administrative staff at the two ports will work 20 percent fewer hours until the end of the year, with the government partially subsidizing the loss in salaries.

 

The announcement came July 1, just two days after HHLA, the biggest stevedore in the neighboring port of Hamburg, cut the hours of 2,000 staff by between 10 percent and 100 percent, also until the end of the year.

 

Around 600 blue collar workers at BLG Logistics' auto terminal in Bremerhaven, Europe's largest, are already working a shorter week.

 

Container traffic in Bremen/Bremerhaven and Hamburg has collapsed by 20-25 percent in the first quarter of 2009 from a year ago and shipments of cars have fallen even more steeply.

Bremen-based Eurogate, Europe's largest container terminal handler, also shortened the working week of some employees.

 

(Source: Journal of Commerce)