Yesterday, Wednesday, June 6, the day on which workers had successfully held another strike since dawn, the Maritime Ministry called a meeting with the participation of representatives of the company, the workers’ Union and the Government.

The employers accepted to start discussions on the signing of a Collective Agreement, while employers and the Government committed themselves to the recognition and integration of dockworkers’ work as Hazardous for the workers’ health, which means better Healthcare and salary rights.

These, first positive results, with regard to the dockworkers’, came after the massive and organized participation in the strike. The strengthening of the Union and the determination against the persecutions and intimidations by the employers, the Justice system and the Government. An important element for this was the shielding and the solidarity manifested by a number of trade unions across the country, but also by trade unions from other countries.

After this development, the workers held a General Assembly to discuss the new conditions and decided to suspend strike action. The President of the Union stated:

“We held a great fight with determination and self-denial. It is a tremendous step what we have accomplished, we blocked them (…) The duty that comes here is to be vigilant. The massiveness of the Union and your own rally has brought this result. However, in order for the commitments to be realized, we must be on alert so that when we need to continue the struggle to meet our demands, we should all be present”