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French government backs down following anti-privatisation actions
6 October 2005
A series of actions by seafarers in France has led to a government rethink on plans to privatise a shipping company.
The actions included taking control of ferry Pascal Paoli, owned by Corsica-Mediterranean shipping company SNCM, in Marseilles on 27 September. This led to the storming of the vessel by the French Navy and the arrest of 30 union members, all of whom were subsequently released. Another two of its ferries, the Mediterrannée and the Napoléon Bonaparte, were prevented from leaving the port of Marseilles on 20 September.
Port workers in Marseilles also carried out solidarity action in support of the seafarers, preventing 40 vessels from leaving the port.
The French government was planning to sell off SNCM to investment company Butler Capital Partners. The unions – French ITF affiliate Fédération Nationale des Syndicats Maritimes CGT and the Corsican Syndicat des Travailleurs Corses – claim that some 300 to 400 redundancies would result from the sale.
However, the government is now stating that a wholesale sell-off is no longer on the cards; instead, it plans to hold on to 25 per cent of the company, with 67 per cent going to Butler Capital and its competitor Veolia-Connex, and eight per cent to workers.
Backed by a number of other unions, including ITF affiliates the Fédération Générale des Transports et de l’Equipement CFDT and the Fédération FO de l’Equipement, de l’Environnement, des Transports et des Services, the CGT union confederation is insisting that the government retain a majority shareholding.
“We oppose the privatisation of SNCM pure and simple. We also condemn the aggression perpetrated by the law enforcement agencies and the army on Pascal Paoli,” commented Yves Reynaud, ITF inspector for the Fédération Générale des Transports et de l’Equipement CFDT.
Negotiations on the future of the company are currently underway.
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