mardi 25 août 2009

Labour bends

The attitude of dock labour in Spain is changing. There is a reality dawning that new competitive pressures – of the type being fielded from Morocco’s Tangier Med container transhipment terminals - require a competitive response.
A new labour agreement reached at the Malaga Container Terminal confirms this is the case. It incorporates significant concessions by labour in recognition of the terminal’s requirement to cut costs and generally slim down to be more competitive. The new agreement reached between terminal management and labour incorporates the following ground breaking features:
- A 25% wage cut for labour designed to reduce the labour cost per container.
- A reduction in the number of stevedores employed per shift, and
- Measures to increase the “economic production” = containers per docker/shift.
Labour cost, terminal management points out, can never be brought down to a level whereby it is on an equal footing with the cost in Tangier Med – there is a 6 to 1 difference. Nevertheless because there is such a big difference, management underlines, the best effort possible has to be made to close the cost gap, and a 25% wage reduction on the part of dock labour does represent a significant step in this respect.
Similarly, the introduction of labour gangs with a maximum of 13 personnel - 16 when lashing operations are involved – realises a significant downsizing in gang size in turn making significant cost savings.
The third element in the equation, increased “economic production” is designed to increase the output of port workers, reduce the labour cost per container in the terminal and generally up the level of service to the lines.
Further, in pursuit of recognition from lines of the commitment to provide a premium uninterrupted service, terminal management and the Union have agreed what is termed a “parachute clause” whereby labour has signed up to delivering a gross crane production of 30 containers per hour with a commitment that any action that might result in a fall in this level of production will be avoided.
For its part, with these significant undertakings in place terminal management has agreed that all 170 stevedoring jobs at the terminal will be maintained.
Generally, terminal management is of the view that the combined impact of these measures will be to enable the Malaga Container Terminal to stay in business in 2009, 2010 and beyond, and to offer effective competition to the new Tangier Med container transhipment terminals.
Management underlines that such an approach is not optional; it is, in its view, absolutely essential to enable the Malaga Container Terminal to stay in business. It points out that out of the 13m teu handled annually in Spain 7m teu is transhipment traffic and that to retain this business – the core business of the Malaga Container Terminal – a new generation approach is required by labour along the lines of the new agreement formally signed in Malaga in May this year.
Malaga among Spain’s containerports has, of course, never been a port known for the militancy of its labour – by comparison to ports such as Barcelona and Valencia it can be seen to be quite moderate. Even so this development following on the heels of a new labour agreement signed in Algeciras at the end of 2008 point to a new recognition on the part of labour that job security is not guaranteed but is something that has to be earnt.
The Algeciras agreement was also ground breaking, covering some 1,230 permanently employed stevedores, and effectively securing significant efficiency and productivity improvements. At the same time, this new agreement was underpinned by a commitment from APM Terminals in Algeciras, the main container terminal operator, to handle at least 3m teu per year through its dedicated terminal facilities.

Source : Mercator Media

mardi 18 août 2009

Bouygues Construction builds second harbour facility in Morocco

Bouygues Travaux Publics and Bymaro, two subsidiaries of Bouygues Construction, have just signed a contract with the Tangier Mediterranean Special Agency (TMSA) for the design and construction of a second deep-water port complex in Tangier. The 825 million euro operation (of which 335 million euros for Bouygues Construction) will be carried out by a consortium with Saipem, Besix, and Somagec.

The works are expected to start in the first half of 2010 and will run for close to four and half years (51 months) with up to 1,500 people working on site at peak times.

Tangier Med 2 will complement the Tangier Med 1 complex — also built by Bouygues Travaux Publics, Bymaro, and Saipem — consisting of a container port (completed in 2006) and a ferry terminal (to be handed over in 2010).