French ports were disrupted on Friday October 30 by a twenty-four hour strike by dockers, at the call of the National Federation of Ports and Docks CGT, which represents nearly 90% of employees in the sector. On the international level, union representatives from 35 European ports signed a joint declaration on May 19 in Istanbul, Turkey, to refuse that dockworkers become a link in the chain of wars.
This twenty-four hour mobilization was launched to protest against the militarization of ports, against the government budget and to support the national strike of November 5. The dockers also announced that they were joining the national call for a strike on November 5, launched by the CGT and all the major private and public unions.
The European Union's recent ports strategy confirms a worrying trend towards deregulation, the militarization of our infrastructure and the subjugation of our labor rights to the interests of the war economy, the EDC explained on Facebook. We cannot allow our ports to be used as pawns in geopolitical conflicts, defended the EDC.
Through this movement, the CGT is contesting measures in the French government's draft budget. The union also expresses its support for the mobilization of high school and university students.
The National Federation of Ports and Docks CGT detailed the reasons for this mobilization in a press release. The future Lecornu budget project, which wishes to impose new efforts on the French people, perfectly illustrates the anti-social and anti-democratic orientations while shareholder dividends increase by billions.