The German terminal operator Hamburger Hafen und Logistik Aktiengesellschaft (HHLA) has signed an agreement on the Collective agreement of the company's employees with Ver.Di, the a union that had long opposed the sale of shares HHLA shares in the hands of public bodies to the shipping group Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) through the company wholly owned Luxembourg subsidiary SAS Shipping Agencies Services. The operation, based on the maintenance of control of HHLA through 50.1% of its capital held by HGV, companies of the city-state of Hamburg, and on the MSC's stake in the capital with the remaining 49.9% stake, had been definitively authorized by the Hamburg Parliament at the end of last summer ( of 4 September 2024).

In his repeated statements against the sale, However, Ver.Di had expressed support for the fact that the agreement of the sale of capital shares included measures for the safeguarding the jobs of employees, protections that the union had stressed that they had to be ensured by a collective agreement. Contractual agreement whose signature is was announced today. "This collective agreement has long lasted - underlined the human resources manager of HHLA, Torben Seebold - forms the basis for acceleration the implementation of crucial transformation projects for ensure the economic well-being of HHLA and our employees. Together we have achieved our goal of putting people at the heart of the transformation, while improving the competitiveness of HHLA. To this end, we are establishing the necessary operational changes resulting from automation and from the optimization of processes with articulated training measures and clear commitments to social security. This creates promising prospects for HHLA and our employees in the context of a dynamic market scenario".