Piraeus port container workers to strike on Thursday

Container workers at Piraeus Port, which is majority owned by Chinese shipping group COSCO, will hold a 24-hour strike on Thursday, protesting to a financial proposal included in their collective labor agreement tabled by the company.

In an announcement, the Piraeus Port Dock Containers Workers Union (ENEDEP) said it was demanding that COSCO pays the surcharges for night work, as well as Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. It also asked to change part-time workers’ contracts to full-time.

“They must bring us a collective labor agreement that ensures our survival and dignity because we brought the port to the top of Europe and [brought] tens of millions to the shareholders of COSCO and DPORT,” ENEDEP said in a press release.

The workers also staged a job walkout until midnight on Wednesday.

ENEDEP is one of two unions representing workers handling containers at Piraeus port.