French and European ports affected by dockers' strike

A strike movement affected French but also European ports this Friday. Dockworkers' unions have called for a 24-hour strike, demanding an increase in wages as well as an end to the "militarization" of ports. The CGT of Le Havre port workers affirmed that there was “neither loading nor unloading” in the leading port in the field of container ships in France.

Haropa Port, which manages Le Havre and Rouen, however indicated for its part that the impacts on activity were limited, with one cruise ship stopover canceled and eight stopovers delayed in Le Havre. In Dunkirk, the terminals for bulk, various liquids, fuels or other goods not transported in containers were “totally blocked”, according to the CGT. At the port of Nantes-Saint-Nazaire, “nine ships were docked and could not be processed,” port authorities indicated.

Demands as broad as they are vague The first call for Friday's strike was launched by the European Dockworkers Council (EDC). It’s about saying no to war and the militarization of ports. European unions are particularly opposed to a draft regulation to promote “military mobility”, by facilitating the transit of defense equipment via civilian transport infrastructures.

Greece was particularly affected. » READ ALSO - Ports, companies... The French maritime sector targeted by a vast campaign of pro-Russian cyberattacks In France, the dockers' union has added more local demands. He contests measures in the French government's draft budget which, according to him, "destroy our solidarity systems".

And calls for an increase in the minimum wage and salaries rather than bonuses for dockworkers. They claim to be mobilizing for “youth, the future of the public education service, Social Security, hospitals and retirees”. Demands as broad as they are vague, therefore.

Machine-translated from French