Piraeus Dock Workers Renew Strike

Dock workers in Piraeus began a 48 hour strike Nov. 3 in a fresh bid to prevent China's Cosco Pacific taking over two of the three container quays at Greece's biggest port.

The port employees union said it will decide Nov. 4 whether to prolong the stoppage which it called to protest the alleged failure of the government to give assurances over jobs at the Cosco terminals.

Dock workers walked off the job for over two weeks in October but called off their action after the newly-elected Socialist government said it would honor its campaign pledge to re-open negotiations with Cosco.

Merchant marine minister Louka Katseli said the government would exhaust all legal options in the Cosco contract and under European law to improve conditions for the dock workers.

Cosco signed a contract with the previous center-right administration in late 2008 which was approved by the Greek Parliament in March despite more than a year of rolling strikes and overtime bans.

Cosco was set to take over management of the container facilities Nov. 3, a month after its 35 year concession was originally due to take effect.

The world's fifth largest container terminal operator will pay around $5 billion over the lifetime of the concession and has promised to invest a further $300 million to upgrade container facilities.

Hong Kong-based Cosco plans to boost Piraeus' annual container capacity to 3.7 million 20-foot equivalent units and make it a leading Mediterranean transshipment hub.

Contact Bruce Barnard at brucebarnard47@hotmail.com.