Moroccan dockers strike for stranded seafarers

News Release International Transport Federation (ITF) May 11, 2012

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE></TITLE>
<META content="text/html; charset=unicode" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.19222"></HEAD>
<BODY>
<DIV>
Dockers in Moroccan ports will
strike tomorrow in solidarity with seafarers stranded after the virtual
cessation of operations by the country’s Comarit/Comanav Ferry company.

 
The strike has been called by the
Union Marocaine du Travail (UMT), a member of the ITF (International Transport
Workers’ Federation), and will run from 07:00 to 15:00 tomorrow 11 May to
protest at the indifference of the country’s maritime affairs administration -
the Direction General de la Marine Marchande – to the seafarers’ plight.
Last week Comarit employees rallied at the ministry, but it has continued to
fail to act on behalf of the seafarers stranded in Spain, France and Morocco.
The port of Tangiers will not be affected by tomorrow’s strike, as it does not
fall under the ministry’s aegis.
 
ITF dockers’ section
secretary Frank Leys commented: “This is a great example of dockers working
together with seafarers – who have been left abandoned and unpaid. This action
will further highlight the dire need for immediate action by the
government.“
 
The ITF and UMT are
assisting the stranded crews.</DIV></BODY></HTML>