Unions to oppose EC port liberalization proposal

Unions to oppose EC port liberalization proposal    The European Transport Workers’ Federation has pledged to oppose a second proposal on the liberalization of port services in Europe issued Wednesday by the European Commission.
   Eduardo Chagas, secretary of the dockers’ section of the European Transport Workers’ Federation, described the approval by the EC of the latest ports directive proposal as “disappointing and baffling.”
   The first port liberalization proposal of the EC was rejected last November by the European Parliament.
   “Everyone who knows anything about ports rejected this child of an outdated and ideology-driven dogma,” Chagas said.
   The EC’s port liberalization effort is opposed by dockworkers’ unions and by ports, but supported by European shippers and shipowners.