EU dockers' protest turns violent

[lovuian]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4617262.stm

Police in Strasbourg have used tear gas and water cannon to disperse dock workers who marched to the European Parliament in a mass protest.
Protesters threw firecrackers, stones and metal missiles, smashing windows and causing "considerable damage".

The dockers, from across the EU, had converged on Strasbourg to protest at controversial proposals to open up port services to greater competition.

Elsewhere, strike action disrupted work at major ports from Greece to Sweden.

The EU's Port Package II proposals will be debated in Strasbourg on Tuesday, with a vote expected on Wednesday.

The dockers fear they could lose their jobs if port services are liberalised - as the proposals recommend - allowing private contractors or ships' crews to unload freight, for example, or to pilot ships into port.

more...

The European Unions are striking... Get a good look America...

[Yoda Yada]

1. I hope the ILWU (Intn'l Longshoreman and Warehousemen Union)...

(West Coast)...is paying attention because the same issue is likely to come up when their contract expires in a few years.

Start to prepare for it now, 'cause it might get ugly.

(What am I talking about? ...Have you seen Brando in "On the Waterfront"?)