November 21, 2008

French port workers suspend planned 2 day strike

It is reported that France's port and dock union, part of the CGT federation, said on Saturday that it has suspended plans for a two-day strike to protest planned reforms of French state owned ports.

In a statement, the union said it took its decision after the government offered to hold talks on Monday to try and resolve the dispute. The 48 hour strike had been due to start on March 11th 2008. It said that "Of course, if the meeting on March 10 is not fruitful then the Federation will call on all port workers to take national action in the following days.”

The government has been under pressure from the shipping industry for years to reform French ports to make them more efficient, but has delayed doing so because port workers have high union membership and frequently go on strike. French government wants to privatize the loading activities of seven out of nine public ports as part of reforms to be carried out in the spring. 7 ports are Marseille, Dunkirk, Le Havre, Rouen, Nantes-Saint-Nazaire, La Rochelle and Bordeaux.