Hopes for end to ferry strike

A WEEKEND of talks could see Brittany Ferries vessels returning to sea this week after the company cancelled crossings due to continuing wildcat strike action by crew.

Company spokesmen Chris Jones said: "No agreement has been reached yet and talks are continuing. Over the weekend the talks have been very constructive and we hope to have an update later today."

He added: "We very much regret the effect that the disruption has had on our customers."

After 12 days of one-hour strikes then 24-hour strikes on the Roscoff, Caen and Spanish routes, on Friday evening Brittany Ferries said it could "not subject our passengers to the on-going uncertainty" and ordered all services cancelled - other than the Condor-operated Poole-Cherbourg passenger service.

It ordered all eight vessels to tie up at French quaysides.

Around 8,000 travellers are thought to have been affected but, with 3,000 lorries a week using the ferries to travel between the south-west of England and France and Spain it has hit hauliers hard. Shellfish companies fear consignments will be lost.

Brittany Ferries has advised customers to head for the Dover-Calais route where P&O Ferries and MyFerryLink will accept its tickets. However, Calais is nearly 700km away by road from Roscoff and Dover 500km from Plymouth so fuel costs will be significant.

Crew had been protesting against plans to "take away certain bonuses and change certain shift patterns" as the company tried to turn round a €70million loss.

BF said it needed to cut costs quickly and that it was facing intense pressure from rival companies, many of whom "employ lower-paid crew".

Mr Jones said: "The French crew are one of the real defining elements of the Brittany Ferries experience and it's very important to us, but crewing costs are our biggest cost and after three years of making losses it's important to turn the situation around and do everything we can to return the company to profitability.

CFDT union delegate Jean-Paul Corbel told Le Télégramme: "I hope we are on track to clear this. But any deal will have to match what we want. Just because the ships are tied up we are not going to accept just anything."

Michel Le Cavorzin, of the CGT union, said that crew were prepared to make concessions "but it has to be give and take".