Marseilles Fos

France's main commercial ports were forced to close over the weekend, as the CGT union called a strike to protest at government plans to increase the retirement age and reform the ports.

All container movement was reportedly shut down at Le Havre and Bordeaux, while La Rochelle, Rouen, Dunkirk and Marseille-Fos also faced major disruptions.

The CGT said that it would resume strike action this coming weekend if nothing was resolved by that time.

'We said a few days ago that we would toughen our position,' the CGT's Pascal Galeote told AFP in Marseille on Friday. 'The situation today is another step and there will doubtless be other steps taken in the coming days.'