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Chaos at Port of Calais Eases as Strike Suspended

© AP Photo / Michel SpinglerTrucks are stuck in a traffic jam on a highway leading to the Channel tunnel after striking workers invaded the Eurotunnel train tracks in Calais, northern France, in a protest against job cuts, Tuesday, June 30, 2015.
Trucks are stuck in a traffic jam on a highway leading to the Channel tunnel after striking workers invaded the Eurotunnel train tracks in Calais, northern France, in a protest against job cuts, Tuesday, June 30, 2015. - Sputnik International
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Limited ferry services between Calais and Dover resumed on Thursday after a three day strike that left thousands of cars and lorries stranded either side of the English Channel was suspended.

A seagull flies past he car ferry terminal in Calais, northern France, Monday, June 29, 2015. - Sputnik International
Welcome to Calais: A Hellhole for Migrants, Passengers and Striking Workers
Workers on the MyFerryLink services have been blockading the French port for three days in the latest of a string of industrial action over job losses, caused by the sale of the company to DFDS Seaways. 

The staff of MyFerryLink ships are all members of a workers' co-operative — SCOP Seafrance — and have been protesting against possible job losses following the takeover, which took effect on July 1. SCOP Seafrance is in liquidation and in the hands of administrators.

The decision to sell off MyFerryLink was forced on the company following a UK Competition Commission ruling that Eurotunnel — the operator of the undersea link and which leased the ferries — was in breach of competition rules. 

Workers have been blockading the port of Calais for three days, causing the cancellation of other ferry operations, leading to thousands of lorries and cars queuing on either side of the English Channel.

Striking workers also managed to halt Eurostar services through the tunnel by setting fires near the tunnel entrance.

UK Home Secretary Theresa May is due to meet her counterpart Bernard Cazeneuve for talks over the issue in Paris on Thursday, while the ferry workers are due to meet officials from the French transport department.

DFDS had made an offer on June 25 to the administrators of SCOP Seafrance for the acquisition of a part of SCOP Seafrance including 202 staff. According to a DFDS statement: "This would have allowed DFDS to operate a 3rd vessel between Dover and Calais. DFDS has had no response to this offer and is surprised by the apparent unwillingness of the SCOP Seafrance administrators to engage in a dialogue with DFDS." The offer, however was rejected this week. 

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