European dockworkers to hold two-hour strikes on June 29

There will be a two-hour strike taking place across European ports on June 29, 2017, with all dockworker activities ceasing from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The decision to hold a Europe-wide stoppage was set out in the General Resolution adopted by the European Zone Assembly of the International Dockworkers Council (IDC) held in Koper, Slovenia on June 8 and 9, 2017, according to a press release from IDC.

This stoppage has been called for two main reasons: To support the struggle of Spanish dockworkers in their current conflict with that nation’s government; and to fight the ultra-liberal model of the European Union that goes against the interests of workers and trade unions.
On the first point, dockworkers in Spain are now forced to defend their jobs because of the deplorable situation created by the Spanish government, which has unilaterally imposed a legislative decree that, while achieving the consent of the European Commission, has never been agreed to by Spanish dockworkers.
As to the second reason for the planned strike, the objective here is to support the IDC's unanimous position of opposition to the neoliberal policies of companies and government administrations which aim to destroy the social gains of workers, increase precarious labour, and place a question mark on the security of their jobs.