Strikes against reform plans start at French ports

A 24-hour strike by workers in France's seven state-run ports started on Wednesday in protest against government plans to privatise cargo handling operations.

Several vessels were blocked or stuck at quay in France's main oil hub Fos-Lavera, top grain export harbour Rouen as well as Dunkirk and Le Havre, port officials said. "Activity is blocked in all sectors because of this 24-hour strike," an official at the Marseille port, which includes Fos-Lavera and also handles containers, told Reuters.

The situation in other ports was still unclear but estimates would likely be available late morning, officials said. On Tuesday a protest campaign that started last month blocked 26 ships in the Fos-Lavera harbour, officials said. Four chemicals carriers, a gas transporter, 18 oil tankers, two cargo vessels and a container carrier were also held up. Wednesday's stoppage in all of France's so-called autonomous ports is timed to coincide with the presentation of the privatisation plans in cabinet.

Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau said on Wednesday that the planned reform would help create new jobs and improve the ports functioning. "This plan is not intended to cause social regression, there is no ideological ambition, it aims to revive our ports," he told French radio BFM.

Work at French state-run ports is currently strictly divided between private sector cargo handlers and public sector authorities who manage harbour infrastructure including the cranes used to load and unload ships. Freight handlers and shipping groups have long complained that the division has held back investment in infrastructure, leads to severe inefficiency and has contributed to the steady decline in market share seen by French ports in recent years.

TLF, an association representing freight handlers and ship operators, says the system is one of the principal weaknesses of the French port sector.