The 3-hour strike called by the International Dockworkers Council (IDC) against the European Directive which aims to deregulate the sector has received massive support in Spain, Cyprus, France, Portugal and Greece, where workers have gathered in front of their port authorities to make their protests heard. In other countries, such as Sweden, Italy and Slovenia protests have also been made and trade unions have mobilised.
The trade union movement against the European Directive regarding Access to Port Services has begun to take shape around the IDC, the trade union bringing together over 50, 000 dockworkers around the world and which in Europe has a presence in 10 different countries. The workers’ protest focuses on two main aspects: firstly, they are demanding that any modification in port legislation should be based on a dialogue between all parties involved, a condition which in this case will not have been met; and secondly, they are not willing to accept a Directive which establishes “self-handling” as a type of work. This practice would allow companies to establish their own working conditions and dispense with professional dockworkers, while using workers without any qualifications to deal with the high workplace risks involved in this profession.
In fact, demonstrations by dockworkers are nothing new in Europe. During the mandate of the previous EU Transport Commissioner, Loyola de Palacio, attempts were made to impose a European Directive that was extremely damaging to the interests of workers and commercial ports. At that time, thousands of dockworkers demonstrated in the streets and on the docks, in what became one of Europe’s most impressive demonstrations of trade union unity. That Directive was defeated in the European Parliament in November 2003. However, a few days before her resignation, Loyola de Palacio again promoted a “new” Directive which repeated practically the same errors as the previous one. Jacques Barrot, the new Transport Commissioner, received a poisoned chalice from his predecessor in the post.
This strike of 14 June was one of the first measures to be adopted by workers against the “new” European Directive that is being devised against their interests. The IDC has declared its firm opposition to this process as a result. In fact, on Tuesday 14 June, a delegation of 80 trade unionists from the IDC also gathered outside the European Parliament in Brussels to raise awareness of the workers’ discontent with this process.
The delegation was able to inform all the European representatives attending a meeting of the European Parliament Transport and Tourism Commission of their discontent by handing them a document. The meeting was attended by the person responsible for promoting the directive, Mr Jarzembowski, the head of the Committee, and Mr. Costa, of the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) and la Federation of European Private Port Operators (FEPORT), among others.
After the meeting, and speeches by some of its leaders, the IDC representatives that had travelled to Brussels consider that it is quite feasible for the Directive to be channelled towards formulas that do not damage a sector that has shown signs of major growth and smooth operations. They warn that this stoppage is merely a warning that any reform of this scope cannot be carried out without considering one of of the sector’s most important partners, the dockworkers.
