labour
Bistrica dockworkers win a shorter week after two years of talks
The river port's crew will move to a four-and-a-half-day week from January.
Dockworkers at the Bistrica river port have ratified an agreement moving them to a four-and-a-half-day week from January, ending two years of negotiations.
The deal keeps pay flat in real terms and trades the shorter week for more flexible shift cover at peak harvest. The union said it was the first such agreement on the northern river. The port operator said it expected no fall in throughput.
Bistrica handles most of the district’s grain barge traffic and a growing share of timber. The agreement does not cover the forestry cooperative’s own haulage crews.