The Hindu Business Line : `Ports are not for sale'

Last week, France’s port terminals were shut down as angry port workers held demonstration to protest against the government port reform plans involving privatisation of certain operations.

“The ports are not for sale,” the striking workers screamed. Protestors also blocked access to the Atlantic cargo terminals at Bordeaux, La Rochelle and Saint-Nazaire and Le Havre and Rouen on the Channel. In Nantes, several hundred demons trators blocked access to France’s biggest wood terminal with a barrage of blocks and burning tyres.

All maintenance work was halted at Le Havre’s container terminals, although fuel tanker maintenance and car-ferry links to Britain were unaffected. Maintenance terminals were also shut down in Bordeaux. At Marseille, all cargo including petrol deliveries were blocked. The industry leaders felt that French ports have lost their competitive edge over the years because of highly unionised public workforce.

The French Government defended the reform plans saying these were aimed at revitalising the country’s harbours and create new jobs in the long run. The port reform bill, part two of a process that started in 1992, is to go before French Parliament next month.

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