He's stopped.
The port of Bastia (Haute-Corse) is blocked this Wednesday morning and until further notice by sailors from the Franco-Italian maritime transport company Corsica Linea, report France Bleu RCFM and Corse Matin.
According to Corse Matin, a first unblocking took place around 9 a.m. in order to streamline road traffic.
The entrance to the port was blocked again 40 minutes later.
Nearly 40 minutes after the opening of the dam, the entrance to the commercial port is blocked again by sailors pic.twitter.com/dFe0PSh5xB
— Corse-Matin (@Corse_Matin) March 13, 2024
“Due to a strike, the commercial port and the Bastia tunnel are closed.
Do not take the seafront but choose the city center,” the Haute-Corse prefecture confirmed on X (ex-Twitter).
#InfoRoute |
Due to a strike, the commercial port and the Bastia tunnel are closed.
Do not take the seafront but prefer the city center.
Stay safe!
— Prefect Haute-Corse (@Prefet2B) March 13, 2024
This action is part of a strike movement launched Monday morning.
These employees are particularly opposed to the opening of a new passenger and freight line between Toulon (Var) and L'Île-Rousse (Haute-Corse) by another shipping company, La Méridionale.
“What we have been saying from the start is that we are here for jobs, for our jobs, Corsican jobs and especially the Corsican population,” explained Dumè Giovanetti, representing the independent trade union of the merchant marine ( SAMM) to France BleuRFCM.
Blocked ships
As a result, “the ships which are due to dock this morning will not dock because the docks are also blocked” added Benjami Morati, Corsica Linea staff delegate and member of the autonomous seafarers' union (SAMM), to Corse Matin.
Likewise, according to the local newspaper, many heavy goods vehicles cannot access the port of Bastia, causing a long queue and disruption to road traffic in the center of Bastia.
According to Corse Matin, a general assembly was to decide this Wednesday morning on the consequences of the movement.
This strike movement was initiated by a 48-hour strike notice for March 11 and 12 filed at the end of February for various demands.
Among them, the maritime public service delegation (DSP), which over the period 2023-2029 consists of “compensation” of some 850 million euros paid by the public authorities to Corsica Linea and La Méridionale.
Read also Ferry traffic to Corsica will be seriously disrupted by a strike at the start of the week
Under this DSP, since January 2023, they have shared, individually or in coordination, the five connections between the Mediterranean island (ports of Ajaccio, Bastia, Propriano, L'Île-Rousse and Porto-Vecchio) and Marseille.
At the end of February, the European Commission announced that it had opened an “in-depth investigation” into this aid, to “assess whether the public service compensation granted to Corsica Linea and La Méridionale for serving Corsica between 2023 and 2030 complies with the rules of the European Union in matters of State aid.
Brussels wants in particular to verify “whether the inclusion of the transport of towed goods and road drivers in the contracts is justified by a need for a public service, taking into account the already existence on the market of a commercial offer” from the neighboring port from Toulon.
In this case that of the Franco-Italian company Corsica Ferries, leader in the transport of passengers between Corsica and the continent and which unsuccessfully challenged the new DSP before the French administrative courts.