An agreement to avert potentially damaging disruptions to the logistics chain was reached by the South Korean shipping company HMM following 18-hour negotiations with unions to avert a strike by 92% of the 400 unionized seafarers on 23rd August protesting against salaries that had been frozen for over eight years.
The protest has come at a particular time for global companies, who have had showers of money raining down on them as a result of increased demand for transport, driven mainly by the US, and freight rates, which have risen to unprecedented levels on almost every trade route.
As a result of the agreement, seafarers will see their salaries increase by 7.9% and receive a bonus equivalent to 650% of their monthly salary.
According to union reports, the seafarers planned to collectively hand in their resignations if no agreement had been reached.
Translation by Giles Foster
