A strike by French dockers paralysed freight and transport and an oil terminal at France’s biggest port of Marseille and caused severe disruptions at Le Havre, the second busiest, operators said.

The strike was called by the main CGT union in all of France’s seven
ports to protest the privatisation of services launched last year. The
GPMM port authority said freight services at Marseille-Fos port were
paralysed since late Thursday and that only one of the two oil
terminals was running.

“As far as we know, participation in the strike is 100 percent,” said a spokeswoman. Ferry services were not however affected.

At Le Havre, most of the 1,800 dockers went on strike, causing major
disruptions to freight services but the oil terminal and ferry liaisons
to Britain were running, said the GPMH port authority.

Pascal Galeote, head of the CGT dockers’ union in Marseille, said the
changes to operations under a 2008 law were “catastrophic for all of
the ports.”

“In Marseille, we are not spared. Private operators are unable to offer
long-term guarantees to employees who are being transferred” from state
management during tough economic times, he said.

Source: Reuters

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