Weekend shutdown over plans for transfers into private sector

Dockers at French ports have announced another round of strikes at Le Havre, Marseilles, Brest, Montoir and, for the first time, Dunkirk.

Hapag-Lloyd has cancelled all calls at Le Havre and Marseille Fos until further notice and, according to Maersk Line, workers at Le Havre, Brest, Montoir and Marseille Fos sur Mer will strike for four days from Friday until Monday.  (Click here to view an advisory from Hapag-Lloyd on specific vessel disruptions.)

The workers are striking in protest at French government plans to transfer some jobs to the private sector.

While there will be no quayside operations at the ports during the four-day action, dock gates will be open on Monday, 24 January and it has yet to be confirmed whether they will be closed on Saturday.

Unusually, workers at the port of Dunkirk will join this round of strike action by refusing to work for 24 hours, starting at midnight tomorrow. Many of the staff at Dunkirk have already been transferred to the private sector.

Hapag-Lloyd said: "As a consequence of the strikes decided by port workers and crane drivers, our vessels will omit their calls at Fos and Le Havre until further notice.

"The situation is beyond carrier control and all containers that have entered the terminals, as of 14 January, will be subject to all existing charges as per tariff conditions or local terminal charges. This includes, but is not limited to, demurrag and storage."

The German carrier said customers could withdraw containers from terminals in Fos or Le Havre at their own risk and cost, but this would attract a charge for double-handling of €180 (US$241) per container. .