Shipping workers warn of ‘collapse’ due to pandemic trade restrictions

Several unions representing shipping workers from around the world have banded together to warn of a “global transport systems collapse” due to labor shortages and pandemic-related restrictions on trade — as already unprecedented delays are set to escalate heading into the busy holiday season.

In an open letter, the World Road Transport Organization, the International Air Transport Association, the International Chamber of Shipping and the International Transport Workers’ Federation said their members have been “failed by governments and taken for granted by their officials” during the pandemic.

The failure to address key matters has led to “unprecedented disruptions and global delays and shortages on essential goods,” the group of unions said Wednesday, adding that “the delays look set to worsen ahead of Christmas and continue into 2022.”

“Fragmented travel rules and restrictions” kept nearly half a million seafarers from leaving their ships, the group said, with some working for as long as 18 months over their initial contracts.