Dockworkers Strike at Top French Ports

The loading and unloading of containers stopped on Jan. 11 at France's top container ports, Le Havre and Marseilles, as dockworkers staged the second 24-hour strike in as many weeks to protest government reforms.

Cargo movements in five other publicly owned ports have also been hit by the stoppage, which follows a nationwide walk out last Monday (see story http://www.joc.com/maritime/french-container-traffic-stops).

Le Havre, the top container port, has almost ground to a halt with over 3,000 dockworkers and port workers walking off the job.

Marseilles, the biggest port by tonnage, is also at a standstill with fifteen vessels reported trapped by the dispute.

Passenger ferry services and oil product shipments are operating as normal in both ports.

Dockworkers have also stopped working at Dunkirk, Rouen, Bordeaux, La Rochelle and Nantes-Saint Nazaire.

The CGT union, which represents the majority of French dockworkers, called the two strikes to increase pressure on the government to honor its pledge to create up to 30,000 waterfront jobs as part of its reform of publicly owned ports.

The dispute now centers on the transfer of some 2,000 gantry crane operators and maintenance staff from port authority payrolls to private stevedores.

The CGT, which staged three months of rolling strikes in 2008 in an unsuccessful bid to abort the reforms, has threatened further action if the government does not respond to its concerns over dockworkers' job security.

Port authorities warned further strikes will result in ship-owners reducing calls at French terminals and routing their cargo through foreign North European and Mediterranean ports.

Separately, Le Havre reported container traffic in 2009 fell 10 percent from the previous year to 2.2 million 20-foot equivalent units and overall cargo shrunk 8.4 percent to 74 million metric tons.