24-hr strike halts Calais ferries
SeaFrance workers have walked out on 24-hour strike on the Dover-Calais route in a dispute over job cuts
SEAFRANCE cross-Channel ferries have been suspended on the Calais-Dover route in a 24-hour strike over planned job cuts.
Workers walked out at 8.00 today and are expected back to work at 8.00 tomorrow. However, a general strike meeting has been called for 10.30 when further action may be taken.
SeaFrance and port officials at Calais say they were only minimal delays at the start of the day as they have been transferring customers on to ferries operated by P&O and also the Channel Tunnel. They say that, where possible, customers have been contacted and offered alternative crossings or a refund.
SeaFrance said in February it wants to cut more than 500 jobs and reduce the size of its cross-Channel fleet. It is looking to cut 543 jobs out of the 1580 employees and redeploy 413 workers to parent company SNCF. It says the redundancy plan is needed to get continued financial backing from SNCF.
The CFDT union says the company is being inflexible in pushing ahead with the plan as it is more severe than the financial position demands. It has called on a mediator to be appointed to help end the dispute.
