Port of Koper blocked

Koper/Slovenia, 28 June 2016  - 4,000 people protested the privatisation of the Port of Koper. The port is very profitable and workers oppose revenue winding up in private pockets.

On July 1, dock workers shut down the port completely. It was not until July 4 that one shift resumed work. Losses of 700,000 euros were made each day. Eventually the workers succeded in mantaining the status quo.

"Unfortunately during the days of strike and protest, nationalists mixed in – poison for every workers' struggle. Today everywhere in Europe it can be seen how harmful this is. Especially in the southeast European countries protests developed strenght when they were explicitly anti-nationalistic. (...) During the strike, at the neighbour port of Triest a slowdown strike was carried out, and it took one and a half instead of half a day to discharge a ship. From the Croatian port of Rijeka one of the many solitarity letters arrived  – that port is already privatized." (wildcat)