|
|
|
| |
Home  Top Story A Pireaus Port in tension again, urgent initiatives required |
|
|
| | |
| |
|
|
|
 |
|
| Latest News - HELLENIC SHIPPING NEWS WORLDWIDE |
|
| |
|
| |
| |
|
Pireaus Port in tension again, urgent initiatives required |
|
|
|
Friday, 09 October 2009 |
 Just one day after her assuming control of the new Ministry of Economics, Competitiveness and Shipping, Mrs. Luka Katseli, one of her immediate priorities has to be the resolving of the continued tensions in the port of Piraeus, with dockworkers’ unions still staging strikes and keeping Cosco from
assuming control of container Piers II and III, as agreed, signed and
ratified by the country’s Parliament. Yesterday,
workers announced that
they will continue their “struggle”, by declaring another 24-hour
strike (for today), while keeping out from overtime labor during the
weekend, in what seems to be just a pretext to keep their hefty wages
for producing minimum work and keeping the Hellenic economy as
“hostage”, while one could speculate that this whole issue could just
be attributed to other interests. Despite Cosco’s and OLP’s (Piraeus
Port Authority) pledge to secure all job positions, workers keep
reacting.
All relative organizations, which in the past had declared their
sympathy for some of the workers’ demands, now are against them.
Yesterday, the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry pleaded for an
immediate solution, as exporters are unable to ship out goods, having
to deal with the cancellation of orders. At the same time, ship agents
are also faced with financial problems, with the port remaining closed
for more than a week. And all this is happening in the most critical of
times, with recession still a major issue for the country (GDP expected
to reach -1.5% for 2009) and the holiday period closing in.
Dockworkers have “disguised” their opposing of the port’s privatization
and the loss of their “special priviledges”, under the cloth of the tax
benefits that Cosco will receive during the 35-year concession. These
benefits will become an issue of review by the European Union, with the
newly elected government most likely asking from Cosco for some
concessions. Market sources indicated that the Chinese conglomerate,
which hasn’t reacted at all to these developments, would be willing to
discuss such amendments, in order to keep the agreement live and going.
One of the most critical parts of the whole process, is expected to
take place today, when the Council of State convenes to discuss the
petitions submitted by dockworkers against the privatization of the
port of Piraeus, arguing that the agreement signed is against the
Constitution. According to recent information, the Council of State’s
reccomendation will deem these petitions as unjustified, while a
possible question will be raised as to whether the unions have the
legal argument to file their petitions, as the agreement doesn’t change
in essence their working conditions, nor threatens their job security.
Still, a lot of damage has already been done to the port’s normal
operations. Being dubbed as one of the most “risky” ports to operate,
as a result of constant work stoppages during the past three years,
Piraeus’ credibility towards international liners is damaged, almost to
a point of no return. It will take a huge effort from the port’s
management, together with Cosco (assuming it finally takes control of
the container handling terminals), in order to restore faith in the
port, as an important trade hub of the Mediterranean.
Nikos Roussanoglou, Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide
|
| | |
|
|
|
|
Free Daily Newsletter Subscribe 
Rss
Online - Contact Send us your news
