Greek dockers and the Greek government appear deadlocked over plans to privatize cargo handling facilities at Piraeus and Thessaloniki.
Dockers working for the Piraeus Port Authority held a 24-hour strike last week. There was also a strike in Thessaloniki which effectively closed the commercial port.
Port authorities have warned that container storage terminals are already running close to capacity and that further strikes will worsen congestion.
Merchant Marine Minister George Voulgarakis, however, has said the government will hold firm to its privatization plans.
Voulgarakis stressed that "both ports were heavily in debt and for the first time last year had asked to be included in the State budget."
He called on the workers to engage in talks "to avoid the possibility of some of them losing their jobs."
Dock workers are slated to carry on in April their refusal to work overtime and on weekends or holidays.
The strikes started this year after an announcement by Voulgarakis that a global tender for operators to run Piraeus and Thessaloniki under a 30-year concession would be released.
The tenders are for management contracts for two of the three container facilities at Piraeus and for the entire container terminal in Thessaloniki.
The Thessaloniki Port Authority on January 15 approved the global tender process while the Piraeus Port Authority approved the tender conditions on January 11.
Reports say that parties interested in the privatization include DP World, COSCO Pacific Limited, Maersk (APM Terminals BV.), Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH), and Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd (ZIM).
Meanwhile, the Piraeus Traders Association is reportedly asking the government for measures to stave off the 'extinction' of hundreds of small and medium import/export companies.
It has been estimated that activity for Piraeus' import/export market has dropped by some 60% over the last few weeks of work stoppages at the key ports.
Dockers working for the Piraeus Port Authority held a 24-hour strike last week. There was also a strike in Thessaloniki which effectively closed the commercial port.
Port authorities have warned that container storage terminals are already running close to capacity and that further strikes will worsen congestion.
Merchant Marine Minister George Voulgarakis, however, has said the government will hold firm to its privatization plans.
Voulgarakis stressed that "both ports were heavily in debt and for the first time last year had asked to be included in the State budget."
He called on the workers to engage in talks "to avoid the possibility of some of them losing their jobs."
Dock workers are slated to carry on in April their refusal to work overtime and on weekends or holidays.
The strikes started this year after an announcement by Voulgarakis that a global tender for operators to run Piraeus and Thessaloniki under a 30-year concession would be released.
The tenders are for management contracts for two of the three container facilities at Piraeus and for the entire container terminal in Thessaloniki.
The Thessaloniki Port Authority on January 15 approved the global tender process while the Piraeus Port Authority approved the tender conditions on January 11.
Reports say that parties interested in the privatization include DP World, COSCO Pacific Limited, Maersk (APM Terminals BV.), Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH), and Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd (ZIM).
Meanwhile, the Piraeus Traders Association is reportedly asking the government for measures to stave off the 'extinction' of hundreds of small and medium import/export companies.
It has been estimated that activity for Piraeus' import/export market has dropped by some 60% over the last few weeks of work stoppages at the key ports.