Piraeus port dockworkers suspend their strike for now

Piraeus port dockworkers early on 11 November suspended their strike, after a Piraeus Court of First Instance ruled the ongoing rolling strikes as illegal a day earlier. The decision to suspend strike action was reached after a marathon meeting of the boards of the Federation of Port Workers of Greece (OMYLE) and the Association of Dockworkers of the Piraeus Port Authority SA (PPA SA) that ran into the first hours of 11 November. Following the decision, the port’s 1,500 dockworkers returned to work on 11 November. The court ruling was issued on 10 November after the country’s chambers of commerce and 48 businesses filed a class action lawsuit against the 1,500 striking dockworkers in the port of Piraeus’ container terminal, claiming that their financial interests are being hurt. Businesses said they will experience shortages during the busy Christmas season if the strike continues, saying they expected more than 60,000 containers to arrive at the port by mid-December. The dock workers union opposes implementation of a contract giving Chinese multinational Cosco concession of the Piraeus container terminal one of the biggest direct foreign investments in Greece over the recent period. The protesters fear the government’s 35-year contract with the Chinese will lead to job losses and curb lucrative overtime. But the court ruled that workers had received ample assurances that no jobs would be lost. The three-week stoppage in October cost Greece an estimated €3 million ($4.4 million) a day, caused hundreds of containers to pile up, and left hospitals dangerously undersupplied as ships carrying basic medical supplies remained stranded at various ports around the Mediterranean. Greece and China signed the €4.3-million agreement for the new management of the port at the beginning of the year. The deal is for COSCO to run and upgrade the two piers for up to 35 years. Piraeus is one of the most important ports in the eastern Mediterranean region. The Chinese company, the world’s seventh largest port operator, plans to make Piraeus the hub of its Chinese exports operation for southeast Europe. With €2.9 billion in bilateral trade per year, China is Greece’s seventh largest trading partner.