Stevedore strike called off

The stevedore strikes set for June 30 and July 3, 4, 6 and 7 have been suspended after unions and management agreed to protect all dockworkers’ jobs. The stevedore conflict had gone on for months following a decree by the Spanish government to liberalize the labor market rules for this sector.

In fact, the legal framework in which the port service of goods handling was developing violated European law, as it did not allow competition, and the liberalization of the sector became urgent after a European Court of Justice ruling ordered Spain to act.

The conflict between the dockworkers and the sector trade association paralyzed ports and caused losses of up to €150 million, according to figures from the Spanish Ministry of Infrastructure. The agreement between the stevedore workers and the management was sealed after unions got a pledge to protect 100% of the jobs in the liberalization process, their long-term demand.

The Spanish government is facing a huge fine due to the delay in liberalizing the stowage sector. The European Court of Justice final decision on the issue will be published on July 13.