Set off inflation protests, and strikes swept the world.
Recently, from Korean truck drivers, German Ports workers, British railway workers, Belgian union workers, Canadian railway workers, Spanish truck drivers, to thousands of American aviation pilots and employees of European airlines, protests or strikes have been launched.
Inflation has caused food and energy prices to continue soaring, but wages are far behind, and it has set off a wave of protests and strikes in ports, airlines, railway and road truck drivers all over the world, which is causing political instability in various countries and making supply chains worse. On the one hand, it is a full yard dock, and on the other hand, it is dock, railway and transport workers who are protesting for wages. Under the double blow, the shipping schedule and delivery time may be further delayed.
At present, strikes are spreading in Europe, the supply chain is severely impacted, and the backlog of undelivered goods in ports is becoming increasingly serious. This forces shipping companies to give priority to shipping containers loaded with goods, resulting in a large number of empty containers that are vital to Asian exporters being trapped in export hubs like Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Strike in German Ports: On June 17th, thousands of workers in several German ports, including Hamburg, went on strike, which aggravated port congestion. Last Thursday, German dockers went on a 24-hour "warning" strike again. In less than a month, this is the second time that the trade union has put pressure on employers to meet the demand for a salary increase. As a result, more and more ships are piling up in the German North Sea, and the congestion in German Ports is further aggravated.
The German Seaport Workers' Union, which represents about 12,000 workers in ports such as Emden, bremerhaven, Blake, William and Hamburg, said that 4,000 workers participated in the demonstrations in Hamburg. All port operations have been suspended. Maersk also said in the notice that it will directly affect its operations in port of bremerhaven, Hamburg Port and Port William.
Maersk announced the latest situation of ports in major northern European regions, saying that bremerhaven, Rotterdam, Hamburg and Antwerp are all facing persistent congestion, even reaching a critical level. Due to the congestion, the voyage of the Asia-Europe AE55 route in the 30th and 31st weeks will be adjusted. Some traders worry that the recent European dockers' strike will have the nth impact on the global supply chain this year.
British rail and air strikes: The latest published data shows that soaring food prices pushed the British consumer price to 9.1% in May, the highest level in 40 years, highlighting the plight of the British people's living cost rising sharply. Prices and oil prices have soared, but people's wages have not risen correspondingly, and their living standards have declined substantially. Faced with the widening gap between the rich and the poor, 40,000 railway workers in Britain went on strike on June 21st, 23rd and 25th, in order to strive for higher salaries and better working conditions.
During the strike of British railway workers, 80% of the trains in the UK were shut down, and the operating hours of the rest of the trains were drastically reduced. Maggie Simpson, head of British Railway Freight Group, said that the strike action would "add additional risks to the already fragile supply chain". Regarding the impact of the strike on transportation, Maersk recently announced that it is keeping close communication with British railway freight operators, hoping to minimize the impact of the strike on Maersk's inland operations in the UK. Maersk also reminded customers that due to the strike, British railway transportation may be at risk of unexpected interruption.
70,000 Belgian workers went on strike: On June 20th, about 70,000 Belgian workers marched in Brussels, demanding that the government take action to deal with the soaring cost of living. The operation of Belgium's airport and national transportation network almost stopped because of the workers' strike, and the port operation of Antwerp-Bruges, one of the largest ports in Europe, was also affected.
Truck drivers strike in Spain: The "road transport defense platform" of small and medium-sized transport truck drivers and self-employed transport drivers in Spain held a general meeting on June 26th to decide whether to continue the strike. Previously, the general strike of small and medium truck drivers in Spain on the grounds of protesting against rising oil prices lasted for a month, resulting in a supply shortage in Spain.
Truck drivers strike in South Korea: The earlier strike in June took place in South Korea. The strike of freight truck workers in South Korea, which started on June 7th, lasted for 8 days. After four rounds of negotiations with the South Korean government, a tentative agreement was finally reached on extending the minimum wage guarantee for workers. Subsequent discussions will continue on whether to extend the minimum wage guarantee for workers to other aspects.During the strike, the freight volume of Busan, the busiest container port in South Korea, plummeted to a quarter of its usual level, while the throughput of Incheon Port dropped by about 20%.
What people are worried about now is whether the successive strikes around the world will be a repeat of the 1970s. In the 1970s, strikes, inflation and energy shortage plunged the global economy into crisis. For example, in the winter from the end of 1978 to the beginning of 1979, the economic crisis reached its peak in Britain, where about 1.5 million people in various fields went on strike, and medical care, logistics and even garbage disposal all went into a large-scale shutdown, which was called the "winter of discontent". Nowadays, the world is also facing the same problems: high inflation, insufficient energy supply, possible economic recession, declining living standards of people, and widening gap between the rich and the poor.