http://www.presstv.ir/detail/169735.html .
French riot police launch an assault as CGT maritime workers block access to Marseille's port on March 10, 2011. Reuters Pictures French riot police have broken up a strike by ferry workers in Marseilles, who had been blocking the port to demonstrate against planned cuts in services.
French paramilitary forces -- the National Gendarmerie -- were sent out on Thursday to arrest the fourteen protesters who had blocked the commercial port's entrance for two days using lifeboats, Reuters reported.
Approximately 800 riot police were deployed as dockworkers stood in solidarity with the ferry operators on strike. The dock strikers attempted to repel the police by spraying them with water hoses.
The General Confederation of Labor (CGT) trade union released a statement saying that the action of French security forces was heavy-handed. "The response by the army confirms a view of labor relations that leads to a dead end," it stated.
The workers who staged the walkout fear their jobs would be at stake as a result of plans by the National Maritime Corsica-Mediterranean (SNCM) company to cut summer services from Nice to Corsica. They are demanding that the total number of operating ferries remains the same.
Company management says the decision to cut services was at the request of Nice authorities who want to limit the number of tourists in the summer. But the CGT union has alleged that the company's true intentions are to lay off workers.
Negotiations reportedly broke down last week between SNCM and the CGT union.
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