Dock strike disrupts French ports

A dockers’ strike shut down shipping terminals at all France’s main ports on Friday and was due to last until Monday, unions and port authorities said.

The strike disrupted freight traffic at Marseille-Fos port on the south coast — France’s biggest — and others including Le Havre on the Channel, Nantes, Bordeaux and La Rochelle, port officials and the CGT union said.

The key oil terminals at Marseille were not affected, however.

It was the second weekend port strike in France in a row. Dock workers and port staff are striking to press demands for early retirement for those who carry out hard physical work.

“All the ports will stay totally or partially closed for four days,” said CGT docks leader Tony Hautbois.

National strikes late last year caused major disruption to shipments and oil terminals, particularly those in Marseille, for several weeks.