Dockers protest as COSCO buys stake in Piraeus

Dockworkers at Piraeus Port have walked out and container terminals were shut on April 8 as Greece’s privatisation agency signed an agreement to sell a 67% stake in the port to China COSCO.

Dockworkers went on strike and marched in central Athens to protest against the EUR 368.5m (US$401m) deal sealed by the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) which they are afraid will put their jobs at risk.

COSCO was declared as the preferred investor for the stake in Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) in January 2016, following the company’s submission of an improved offer, in a process initially opposed by Greece’s left-wing government but then resumed as part of the country’s EUR 86bn (US$98bn) bailout deal.