The French government has intervened in the dispute that has halted sailings by Brittany Ferries in the English Channel for the last week.
Management and unions at the company had been called to a meeting in Paris last week in an attempt to break the deadlock between them over the company's plans to reduce its wage bill through changes to working hours and the elimination of benefits.
A fortnight ago, crews on a number of the company's ships staged strike action to protest at the refusal of the company to modify its plans. On Friday, the company responded by cancelling all services until further notice, arguing that it could not provide an acceptable service to customers in the face of wildcat action by seafarers.
Since then, management and unions have held several rounds of talks and finally came up with an agreement late on Wednesday evening.
The company pressed the unions to submit the agreement to members last Thursday with the aim of getting its fleet of eight ships back into service on Friday afternoon.
Crews rejected the agreement, however. Union sources said that 75-80 per cent of crew members had voted against acceptance.
Shortly after it became clear that the proposed agreement had been rejected, transport and sea minister Frédéric Cuvillier announced that he was calling the two sides in for a round table meeting with other concerned parties.
The transport ministry said in a statement that the company's survival and the jobs of 2,500 people were in danger as a result of the stalemate over the company's economy plan.
"In the constant battle for competitiveness and employment in our country, and in the face of the difficulties currently being experienced at Brittany Ferries, the government hopes through this intervention to promote a resumption of the social dialogue between all partners so as to enable the company to emerge from the storm," it said.
Brittany Ferries is looking to reduce its wage bill by €6 million (USD7.7 million) as part of a wider cost-cutting plan to stem loss-making which has left the company with an accumulated deficit of €70 million (USD89 million) over the last four years.
The unions say they are ready to make some sacrifices but have called on the company to first investigate alternatives ways of saving money. They say that they also want a promise from the company to restore benefits once its financial health has been restored.
Based in Roscoff in Brittany, Brittany Ferries claims to transport 2.6 million passengers annually, 85 per cent of them British. It operates routes between France and Britain, France and Ireland and Britain and northern Spain.
Andrew Spurrier
Image Source: Fernando Pascullo
