Dock Workers Strike Over EU’s Plans

By Raf Casert THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BRUSSELS, Belgium — Tens of thousands of dock workers in several European Union nations went on strike Wednesday to protest plans to liberalize cargo handling at EU seaports, unions said.

The European Transport Workers’ Federation said a total of about 40,000 people were participating in 12 countries to protest an EU bill that would open up cargo handling to competition, ending the situation in many European ports where loading and unloading is run by monopoly handlers.

Supporters say the bill is needed to cut costs, speed up deliveries and encourage investment in ports across the 25-nation bloc.

Dock workers’ unions fear it would lead to lost jobs, lower wages and less safety. They want qualified stevedores to continue carrying out dock work, arguing the job is too specialized to leave to personnel on board the docking ships.

The European Parliament will discuss the issue at its meeting Monday in Strasbourg, when dockers planned a major demonstration in the French city.

Some 4,500 German port workers took part in Wednesday’s strike, which paralyzed container terminals in the North Sea port of Hamburg where some 1,000 workers walked out, the service workers union ver.di said.

“Not one crane is moving,” union spokesman Uwe Schroeder said.

In Bremen and Lower Saxony state, 1,600 workers took part in protests. Short strikes were also planned in Baltic Sea ports.

In Rotterdam, only a few hundred dock workers were expected to stage a four-hour strike at the European Container Terminals, according to Port Authority spokesman Sjaak Poppe. With 58,000 employees working at Europe’s largest port, however, operations would barely be affected, he said.

Workers planned to strike for four hours in Antwerp, Belgium.