French dock unions make peace with government, employers

FRENCH dockers have come to an agreement with the government and employers, ending 18 months of strikes, raising hopes that port operations have returned to normal following the signing of an accord with the Federation Nationale des Ports et Docks (FNPD), a division of the CGT union.


The government appears to have accepted the condition that certain port workers in difficult jobs can continue to automatically qualify for early retirement, reported London's Containerisation International.


The FNPD is demanding that dockers with difficult jobs who have been working for 15 years be entitled to retire two years early, and those with 18 years' experience be entitled to retire three years early. But the report noted that it was not yet clear which jobs will qualify for this, nor whether the base retirement age will be 60, or the newly introduced age of 62.


The report said another difficulty seems to have been resolved, concerning the transfer of the remaining state-employed port workers to the private sector. It said Marseilles-Fos was one of the last ports to finalise the transfer, including crane drivers. It said the issue was resolved after port workers were offered employment guarantees by each state-controlled port authority, a promise the private sector was not willing to make.


Dirk Becquart, director of development and vice-president of Marseilles-Fos port authority, said: "We think customers can at last look forward to a productive future in all French ports. The healing process has begun, and I am confident it will be completed successfully. We know what has to be done, and appeal to all those that have lost confidence in French ports to help us return to good health."
(Source:http://www.schednet.com)