Le Havre (AFP)

The blocking of the commercial ports by trade unionists of the CGT opposed to the pension reform worries many actors of the port world and beyond, as in Havre where the action "dead port" was very followed still Wednesday.

Early in the morning, CGT demonstrators invaded the headquarters of the Grand Maritime Port of Le Havre and formed a "CGT" with office lights. "These coups, property damage and intimidation must stop," said Baptiste Maurand, director general of the port, on Twitter.

Farther on in the industrial port area, several dozen demonstrators blocked access to the port in the morning by burning pallets, immobilizing several trucks.

According to Philippe Bonneau, secretary general of Normandie OTRE (road haulier), Le Havre "is the port most affected" by the conflict. "You have carriers who are literally dying, because 90% of road transport companies are very small and medium-sized businesses. They are in an impossible situation, there has never been such a long and hard social conflict ".

He calls for state intervention to unblock the ports and organize in the future a "minimum service" in order to avoid "a minority of individuals blocking the French economy".

"We are not questioning the strikes but the blockages which will have a serious impact on the image of the port, the first container port in France, and employment. We will not let ourselves die slowly" , commented Léa Lassarat, president of the CCI Seine Estuaire, announcing actions "from next week".

For Alain Adam, president of Medef Seine Estuaire, "25% of the stops (initially planned in Le Havre) were diverted to Antwerp in December, and between 30 to 40% are canceled in January" and redirected to Antwerp or Rotterdam.

Between the dockers and the tugs, "they are strikes one behind the other but which paralyze the traffic of goods" and which have "a downstream impact on all the other activities", added Mr. Adam.

In a press release, Haropa (Le Havre, Rouen and Paris) thus mentions 227 delayed or canceled stopovers since the start of the "Dead Ports" operation and "calls for everyone's collective responsibility so that the entire logistics chain port quickly becomes operational again and the development efforts made in recent years are not called into question ".

- "container race" -

Elsewhere, like at the ports of Nantes / Saint-Nazaire and Marseille, where several accesses were still blocked on Wednesday, the situation is worrying.

The president of the Nantes / Saint-Nazaire CCI, Yann Trichard, estimates the losses linked to the "Dead ports" operations at several million euros "and in Marseille the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) assesses these losses at almost 100 million euros.

On Wednesday, several entrances to these two ports were again blocked.

In Marseille, Pascal Galéoté, CGT general secretary of the Grand Maritime Port, says he is "aware" of the "economic impacts" but nevertheless considers that "this is the only way today to ensure that the government reverse its decision with this pension reform project. "

And this while 75% of French foreign trade takes place by sea, recalls Armateurs de France.

Since the start of the strike, "we don't know where the ships are going to call, where the goods are going to arrive," comments Camille Contamine, delegate for maritime affairs at TLF Overseas. "It's a container race, we have to determine if the ship will stop at a French port or unload elsewhere".

"Dunkirk has worked since the start of the movement, which has diverted quite a bit of flow but not all of it," she said.

The Shipowners of France fear the impact of the strike in the long term for the attractiveness of the ports of France. "A dissatisfied customer will be much more difficult to convince later," said the professional organization.

© 2020 AFP