A week of strike action by 700 FNV dockworkers brought major Dutch port to standstill –strike action set to resume on Friday without progress.
The biggest ever strike of lashers in the Netherlands is on hold for a week after concerted industrial action by the FNV Havens dockworkers brought the largest and busiest port in Europe to a standstill.
Rotterdam lashers - who work to lash and unlash containers – at International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) affiliate, FNV Havens, have been in negotiations for a new collective labour agreement with two companies, International Lashing Services B.V. and Matrans Marine Service B.V., since April 2025.
However, with no agreement reached on wage increases – which are directly tied to the rates container transshipment companies pay lashing companies – the dockworkers started a 48-hour strike , on the morning of Wednesday 8 October.
Then, on Friday morning 300 lashers – ‘sjorders’ – held a special members’ meeting at which offers from the companies were unanimously rejected by the FNV Havens lashers.
FNV had initially demanded a 7 percent pay increase, on top of automatic inflation compensation but, acting in good faith to find a resolution, lowered that demand to 6.5 percent. The dockers were frustrated that the offer from Matrans Marine Services only arrived that morning – while neither offer matched the union’s reasonable demands for pay and conditions that reflect their hard work in demanding roles allowing them to retire in good health. As a result, all 700 lashers working out of Rotterdam moved into an indefinite strike.
The strike is the biggest in Rotterdam since 1991, when all lashers – a smaller number than those employed today – went on strike. It represents a crucial fight for fair wages, safe working conditions and the recognition of the essential role that dockers play in container operations.
On Friday morning last week, in a sign of their reasonable approach to the strike and negotiations, FNV’s lashers responded to a special request from a cargo owner pleading for nine refrigerated containers of fresh fish to be unloaded before they spoiled. In line with safety agreements, dockers considered this to be an emergency situation and duly dispatched an emergency team to enter the port to un-lash the specific containers.
However, on Saturday morning, the two companies filed an emergency lawsuit against FNV, stating that the strike is disproportionate and threatens supply chains – points rejected by FNV. The court ordered the strike to be suspended from 0700 on Monday until 0700 this Friday, with the strike permitted to resume in the absence of any agreement, and the companies also able to ask the court for a ruling on the strike itself.
The Port of Rotterdam Authority acknowledged the impact of the strike, which meant no container ship was able to unload at the port, leading to some 25 container ships waiting off the Dutch coast. A Port spokesperson explained that: “Even if the lashers now [Monday] return to work without further interruptions, it will take until the end of October to clear the backlog.”
Both FNV Havens and the ITF want a quick and fair resolution to this dispute.
