Spanish unions plan to carry out port strikes

The Spanish government will face strikes at all ports across the country later this month, according to International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) Maritime Operations Coordinator Jacqueline Smith.    Spanish unions plan to implement port strikes this month in response to the government’s plan to reform the country’s port system.
   The Spanish government will face strikes at all ports across the country on the 20th, 22nd and 24th of this month, according to International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) Maritime Operations Coordinator Jacqueline Smith.
   “The government’s decree seeks to bring Spanish dock labor legislation into line with European Union single market legislation,” IHS Fairplay reported.
   Cargo-handling activity has reportedly started to slow at some ports, including Barcelona, and some shipping companies are reportedly making plans to divert some of their vessels to French ports during the strike period, IHS Fairplay said.
   Unions calling on the strike say the government’s decree would result in over 6,000 dockers losing their jobs due to plans to cut the Spanish labor force by 25 percent per year for the next three years, according to IHS Fairplay.
   “The Spanish government is tearing up the rule book with a callous disregard for Spanish jobs, Spanish prestige and international conventions,” ITF President and dockers’ section chair Paddy Crumlin said.
   “We understand from our Spanish affiliate unions that they have been told by the government that it intends to approve a law which seeks to aggressively and destructively liberalize the port labor market,” Crumlin added. “Unbelievably it even seeks to dismantle the current dockers’ registration system in breach of Spain’s international obligations under ILO (International Labor Organization) Convention 137. To add to the sense of the damaging, unnecessary and aggressive intent, the proposed law furthermore ignores the agreements reached a few weeks ago between the employers’ association, ANESCO, and the unions.”