The 72-hour strike called by the French union Fnpd Cgt in ports across France from 18 to 20 March 2025 will not take place. The union announced its suspension on 14 March after a meeting with representatives from the ministries of transport, labour, the prime minister’s office, and the employers' organisations Unim and Upf. The union stated that discussions with counterparts had made it possible to glimpse a constructive resolution to the dispute. A general assembly of the unions has been scheduled for 25 March to assess progress in negotiations and decide on the next steps.
The union launched the mobilisation of dockworkers in opposition to pension reform and to improve working conditions. The workers object to the increase in the retirement age from 62 to 64. The unions claim that President Emmanuel Macron had promised, during a visit to the port of Le Havre in April 2022, that the reform would not be applied in the ports. Another demand concerns the recognition of exposure to asbestos and the arduous nature of port work.
Strikes in French ports began in January 2025, and since the start of the year, more than three hundred hours of stoppages have been recorded, compared to 166 hours for the entire previous year. Over the past three years, French ports have experienced eighty strike days in 2023, twenty in 2024, and already around twenty in 2025. The diversion of container ships to ports in other countries has led to congestion, particularly in Antwerp, Rotterdam, and Hamburg.
