Recently, food and energy prices have continued to soar due to inflation, and wages have not kept up. This has led to waves of protests and strikes by drivers of ports, airlines, railways, and road trucks around the world. Political turmoil in various countries has made supply chains even worse.
On one side are the full yard wharf, and on the other side are wharf, railway, and transport workers protesting strikes for wages. Under the double blow, the shipping schedule and delivery time may be further delayed.
1.Agents across Bangladesh go on strike
From June 28, Customs Clearance and Freight (C&F) agents across Bangladesh will go on strike for 48 hours to fulfill their demands, including changes to licensing rules-2020.
The agents also went on a similar one-day strike on June 7, halting customs clearance and shipping activities at all sea, land and river ports in the country with the same demands, while on June 13 they lodged a filing with the National Taxation Commission. A letter asking to amend certain parts of the license and other rules.
2.German port strike
Thousands of workers at several German seaports have gone on strike, increasing port congestion. The German seaport workers’ union, which represents some 12,000 workers at the seaports of Emden, Bremerhaven, Brackhaven, Wilhelmshaven and Hamburg, said 4,000 workers took part in the demonstration in Hamburg. Operations at all ports are suspended.

Maersk also stated in the notice that it will directly affect its operations in the ports of Bremerhaven, Hamburg and Wilhelmshaven.
The latest situation announcement of ports in the major Nordic regions released by Maersk stated that the ports of Bremerhaven, Rotterdam, Hamburg and Antwerp are facing continuous congestion and have even reached critical levels. Due to congestion, the 30th and 31st week voyages of the Asia-Europe AE55 route will be adjusted.
3Airline strikes
A wave of airline strikes in Europe is exacerbating Europe’s transport crisis.
According to reports, some crew members of Irish budget airline Ryanair in Belgium, Spain and Portugal have started a three-day strike due to a pay dispute, followed by employees in France and Italy.
And British EasyJet will also face a wave of strikes. At present, the airports of Amsterdam, London, Frankfurt and Paris are in chaos, and many flights have been forced to cancel. In addition to the strikes, severe staffing shortages are also causing headaches for airlines.
London Gatwick and Amsterdam Schiphol have announced caps on the number of flights. With wage increases and benefits completely unable to keep up with inflation, strikes will become the norm for the European aviation industry for some time to come.
4.Strikes negatively impact global production and supply chains
In the 1970s, strikes, inflation and energy shortages plunged the global economy into crisis.
Today, the world is facing the same problems: high inflation, insufficient energy supply, the possibility of economic recession, the decline of people’s living standards, and the widening gap between the rich and the poor.
Recently, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revealed in its latest World Economic Outlook report the damage caused by long-term supply chain disruptions to the global economy. Shipping problems have reduced global economic growth by 0.5%-1% and core inflation has increased. about 1%.
The reason for this is that trade disruptions caused by supply chain issues can lead to higher prices for a variety of products, including consumer goods, fueling inflation, and having a knock-on effect of falling wages and shrinking demand.