Les Abeilles crew call off national strike

Andrew Spurrier, Paris - Friday 2 May 2008

Le Havre has suspended SNRH operating licence. Le Havre has suspended SNRH operating licence.
FRENCH tug crews have called off their planned national strike following a surprise decision by the port of Le Havre authority to suspend the operating licence of local Kotug subsidiary SNRH. 

Crews working for French towage leader Les Abeilles at Le Havre, who began a three-day strike on Wednesday and had announced a second starting this Saturday, suspended their action immediately after the port’s decision. 

And tug crews in other major French ports, who had been planning to start a three-day strike today, have also called off their action. 

The port authority informed SNRH of its decision by letter yesterday, indicating that checks carried out had found it to be failing to meet commitments it had given regarding crewing arrangements aboard its vessels by letter on April 23. 

The tug crews began their action to protest at the decision of the port authority last week to renew SNRH’s operating licence despite the fact that the local maritime affairs service had found that crewing arrangements aboard its vessels were not in conformity with collective and local agreements. 

The port authority had said earlier this week, however, that it had decided to renew SNRH’s operating licence on the basis of the April 23 letter in which SNRH had indicated that it would bring its crewing arrangements into line with the agreements.
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