(Bloomberg) -- A French dock workers union called a series of strikes covering all of the country’s ports, potentially slowing grain exports in the European Union’s biggest agricultural producer.
The National Federation of Ports and Dockers-CGT announced a 48-hour work halt starting Dec. 9 and a suspension of all overtime and special work shifts, according to a statement on Thursday. Four-hour strikes are planned on 10 different days between Jan. 7-31.
The stoppage plan follows a wave of farmer protests against embattled President Emmanuel Macron and the politically explosive trade deal between the EU and South America’s Mercosur bloc.
Ports affected by the dock workers strike include the biggest grain terminals at the northern towns of Le Havre and Rouen that handle 50% of the country’s wheat and barley exports. In 2023, France’s roughly €96 billion of agricultural output represented almost a fifth of the EU’s total.
Macron “has committed on several occasions not to apply the reform to dockers and port workers,” said the statement. The union will meet in the coming days “to raise the level of the fight for the coming weeks.”
The union held similar strikes in May to denounce pension reforms which are currently under discussion as part of the 2025 budget process.
The union is still fighting against an increase in the minimum retirement age stipulated in a April 2023 pension reform plan that triggered angry protests. The grains industry has also been disrupted this year during demonstrations led by French farmers highlighting rising costs, stringent regulations and cheap imports.
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