BRUSSELS - Belgian dock workers will join their European counterparts in picketing the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Monday (January 16), against planned European Union rules aimed at opening up cargo handling.

The demonstration is part of a campaign that included a Europe-wide strike by 40,000 dockers on Wednesday (January 11). Dockers at the ports of Antwerp, Ghent, Ostend and Zeebrugge worked four hours less than usual so they could can attend union meetings about the proposed European ports directive.

The Parliament is due to debate the directive the following day, Tuesday, before voting on it on the Wednesday. The bill would open cargo handling to competition, ending the situation in many European ports in which loading and unloading is run by monopoly handlers.

Supporters say the rules are needed to cut costs, speed deliveries and encourage investment in ports across the EU. But dock worker unions fear it would lead to lost jobs, lower wages and less safety. They want qualified stevedores to continue the dock work, arguing that the job is too specialized to leave to personnel on the docking ships.

A current roster of dates and country/port locations in which these work stoppages have been scheduled follows:

January 16 -17, 48 hours: Belgium, France, Greece, Portugal, and Spain.

January 16, 24 hours: Cyprus, Denmark, Sweden.

Contact your BDP representative for information concerning potential impact on individual shipments and schedules.

Thank you.