France's biggest dock workers’ union called for a 24-hour strike at France's seven largest ports on Nov. 6 in the latest protest against government plans to privatize container handling.
The General Confederation of Labor said the government has reneged on a pledge to create new jobs as part of its port reforms, centered on transferring around 2,000 container crane operator jobs from port authority payrolls to private stevedores.
The strike is expected to shut down the seven ports affected by the reforms, including Le Havre, France's top box hub, and Marseilles, its biggest port by tonnage.
The CGT (Confédération générale du travail) issued the strike call after it failed to get job guarantees during a meeting with transport minister Dominque Bussereau earlier in the week.
The union said the government has spent billions bailing out banks and car makers but refused to spend a relatively small sum creating the 30,000 new jobs promised in the reform program.
Dock workers staged three months of rolling strikes in 2008 in a bid to derail the reforms last year but ceased their action after the Parliament approved the legislation.
The CGT renewed industrial action earlier this year, alleging the government was using the current economic downturn as an excuse to cut the number of dock worker jobs.
The government claims its reforms, which will also loosen the state's grip on port authorities, will boost French ports' competitiveness and increase annual traffic from 3.6 million 20-foot equivalent units in 2007 to 10 million TEUs by 2015.
The strike is also to protest government plans to reduce compensation for dock workers for exposure to asbestos.
The other ports facing strike action are: Dunkirk, Rouen, Nantes Saint-Nazaire, Bordeaux and La Rochelle.
The General Confederation of Labor said the government has reneged on a pledge to create new jobs as part of its port reforms, centered on transferring around 2,000 container crane operator jobs from port authority payrolls to private stevedores.
The strike is expected to shut down the seven ports affected by the reforms, including Le Havre, France's top box hub, and Marseilles, its biggest port by tonnage.
The CGT (Confédération générale du travail) issued the strike call after it failed to get job guarantees during a meeting with transport minister Dominque Bussereau earlier in the week.
The union said the government has spent billions bailing out banks and car makers but refused to spend a relatively small sum creating the 30,000 new jobs promised in the reform program.
Dock workers staged three months of rolling strikes in 2008 in a bid to derail the reforms last year but ceased their action after the Parliament approved the legislation.
The CGT renewed industrial action earlier this year, alleging the government was using the current economic downturn as an excuse to cut the number of dock worker jobs.
The government claims its reforms, which will also loosen the state's grip on port authorities, will boost French ports' competitiveness and increase annual traffic from 3.6 million 20-foot equivalent units in 2007 to 10 million TEUs by 2015.
The strike is also to protest government plans to reduce compensation for dock workers for exposure to asbestos.
The other ports facing strike action are: Dunkirk, Rouen, Nantes Saint-Nazaire, Bordeaux and La Rochelle.