Piraeus Port Authority to seek court injunction against dockworkers on strike

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

29 Feb 2008

The management of the port authority of Piraeus (OLP) is looking to put an end to the continuing work abruptions and strikes in the port's daily operation, by filing for an injunction. The aim of this move is to proclaim the dockworkers' protests as illegal, forcing them to return to their normal working hours. According to the petition filed by OLP, the workers’ actions have brought a working chaos in the port’s operation and caused major financial losses. Meanwhile, dockworkers will hold a press conference today to communicate their stance on these recent developments. Among the issues to be addressed is a rather likely legal redress against the bidding process, a move that will bring the whole issue to a halt, until a court decides on the matter. The move by OLP comes after the latest decision by the Dockworkers Unions to extend their movement against the government's decision to invite bids by private operators to assume operation of the country's largest ports, Piraeus and Thessalonica. According to the decisions made, dockworkers are to continue abstaining from overtime labour throughout March, with a new 24-hour strike scheduled for March 5th. These movements have been going on since the beginning of the year, causing major disruptions in the country’s import-export activity, as well as fierce reactions from the relative delegates, who are supporting the Ministry’s efforts to improve the ports’ container handling operations. According to the plans, the contract which will be awarded shall require a minimum annual rent, while a further one-time 50 million euros payment by the winning bidder shall be included in the deal. Piraeus and the contractor will also split annual profits if the operator's return-on-assets ratio exceeds 15 per cent, according to Mr. George Voulgarakis, Minister of Mercantile Shipping. The winning bidder will gain access to Piers II and III of the port of Piraeus for a period of 30 years.