UK must “live with” EU port regulation

The UK government appears to be wavering in its fight against the EU Port Services Regulation. Speaking at London International Shipping Week, Robert Goodwill MP, UK Minister for Shipping & Ports, told delegates that the industry will have to “live with” the PSR.

"We are going to get a regulation; we won’t be able to stop it for a third time,” he said. “But we can make it better: if we manage it carefully and if we maintain the concessions we have, we can live with it. We've made the best of a bad job."

However, sources close to the PSR process said that there is some way to go before the regulation is passed. While text from the European Council has been approved, the European Parliament still has to debate the regulation, with a view to coming up with its own version of the text.

“The bottom line is that there is still a long way to go. The process is only two-thirds of the way through,” said the source.

ABP chief executive James Cooper went on record during London International Shipping Week to say that the PSR would “adversely affect the balance of risk and reward for investors in our industry”.  

“While this might not have much impact on our mainland cousins whose ports are almost universally state funded, the proposed changes are especially important for UK ports that rely overwhelmingly on private funding to deliver new infrastructure and facilities on behalf of their customers.”

Mr Goodwill went on to refer to UK ports as the “foundation of our national economy”, adding that where government could cut regulation, it would.

Bram Lammensto‎Longshoremen,Dockers,estibadores,havenarbeiders @ worldports

every year we have dockers dying while on the job
every year we have dockers losing limbs while on the job
every year we have dockers going on sick leave for several months caused by an accident on the job
every year we have dockers losing their wife and kids due to the ‘flexible’ work schemes

and every year we hear the same people
(that work there 9/5's in warm offices)
cry out that whe are overpaid and aren’t flexible enough

while we take care of another colleague who is on the verge of losing his wife and kids cause of his job
while we welcome back another colleague who has been out for months
while we visit our colleague who is gonna be disabled for the rest of his days
while we bury yet another colleague
while we hope to stay in one piece and see our kids grow up….
those people are trying to get even more flexible hours
even more work pressure
this is not a declaration of war
this is a pamflet with only one intention to make people aware of the inhumane consequences of Port Package 3

if, after reading this, you still support Port Package 3 and are in peace with who you are
i will have no problem calling you a psychopath and a killer
because that is exactly what you evolved in

with kind regards

bram lammens

docker zeebrugge

Port Package II: Dockers demolish European Parliament 2006

Approximately 100 square meters of glass facades of the European Parliament were smashed, police were pelted with stones. The weeks since simmering dispute over the proposed directive on ports Port Package II is now escalating in Strasbourg: Some 5,000 dockers left their anger free rein.

Strasbourg - with tear gas and water cannons, the French police tried to bring the angry dockers before the Euro Parliament in Strasbourg back under control. The demonstrators threw stones and beer bottles. Around 100 square meters of windows of the European Parliament were broken. Several police officers and security officers were injured. Also in the city center, where more than 5,000 dockers had started from different European countries their protest march, property had been damaged by rioters and stone throwers. The reason for the protests was the planned port directive Port Package II, which will be decided on Wednesday in the European Parliament.

Protesters dockers in Strasbourg: "That was not in our favor"

DPA

Protesters dockers in Strasbourg: "That was not in our favor"

German trade unionists deplored the riots. "That was not in our favor and we have not involved us," Manfred said Rosenberg, Fachgruppenleiter port union ver.di. "We have apologized for MEPs." But the violence is also an expression of the concern of the dockworkers about their jobs.

In many other EU countries workers laid of seaports in protest against the policy stopped work. In Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent and Zeebrugge no ship was unloaded. The Spanish ports of Santander and Bilbao were placed largely paralyzed. In Piraeus and Thessaloniki, the strike began at night, workers of other Greek ports joined the morning, reported the radio in the country.

The Port Package II is to liberalize the market and open up to more competition. So crews will in future itself to unload the cargo. In addition, it should be possible owners to operate their own handling facilities. Already last week, thousands of dockers who protested in Hamburg against the plans.

However, the outcome of the vote in the European Parliament on Wednesday is considered uncertain. The German CDU deputy Georg Jarzembowski, who is responsible as rapporteur for the law, expected that the Directive will apply in its current form no adequate consent. According to him are 149 amendments. MEP Michael Cramer (Greens) spoke of a huge black-red-green coalition against the proposed law. The Liberals reserve the right to completely reject the port package.

Also Federal Minister of Transport Wolfgang Tiefensee (SPD) spoke out in favor of Germany Kultur, to revise the proposal. The EU Commission, which drew up the port services directive, not consider the fierce competition, the there are already among ports. "Here to put a further dumping of prices in transition or even to threaten jobs and what needs to be made to investments in European ports, which would be absolutely counterproductive," said Tiefensee.