Calais port strikes cause further jams in France and England

http://www.dw.com/en/calais-port-strikes-cause-further-jams-in-france-and-england/a-18556772

The Port of Calais is reopening after continued labor actions. In Britain, police closed off motorway sections while more than 3,000 trucks waited to board ships to France, where ferry workers blocked the port

Calais port strikes cause further jams in France and England
01.07.2015

After labor actions disrupted cross-Channel traffic for days - and won workers a date with France's Transportation Ministry - a ferry union announced on Wednesday that it would allow the Port of Calais to reopen at 8 p.m. local time (1800 UTC). The workers are protesting a pending business to sell two MyFerryLink boats to a Danish company, a deal that could kill 400 jobs in Calais.

The strikes, which began last week, mostly disrupted traffic in the Calais area, stopping commercial and passenger trains from entering the Eurotunnel and allowing some of the migrants whose Calais camps have become right-wing talking points on both sides of the Channel to sneak onto Britain-bound lorries.

The latest actions, however, have also left lorries parked on a normally zipping highway in the south of England, connecting Dover to the M25 motorway encircling London.

"Due to the disruption at French ports, HGVs (heavy goods vehicles) destined for Port of Dover and Eurotunnel terminals are being 'stacked' on the M20," the Kent police force announced in a statement.