French port strike closes Le Havre terminals

Peter T. Leach - 

All dockworkers and a large number of port staff in Le Havre joined a national strike Wednesday shutting down shipping terminals at France's largest container port.

France’s FNPD-CGT union called the strike to press demands for early retirement for those who carry out hard physical work. The union said the current strike would last until at least Sunday.

The strike did not affect cross-Channel ferry services or petroleum shipping, according, to a union source quoted by Agence France Presse.

National strikes in September and October last year caused major disruption to shipments and oil terminals, particularly in the southern port of Marseille, where the Fos-Lavera oil terminal, the world's third largest, was blocked for more than a month and contributed to a shortage of fuels across France.

The sporadic strikes were sparked by the port reform law passed by the government of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, which called for the privatization of marine terminals.

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