The French government has adopted the bill on French ports' reform; the bill would be passed in the National Assembly a few months later, on the 4^th of July 2008. CGT syndicate of the Autonomous Port of Marseille's agents protested against this very law. This report covers only the reaction and complements the report that presents the reform but where the representative of the employers intervenes only (see French Ports Reform).

The government bill aims to overcome the last obstacles which blocks the revival of the French ports. Announced by the Prime Minister Francois Fillon in Marseille, previously in February, it turns the seven autonomous ports into seven "Grands Ports Maritimes" (Major seaports), enjoying further autonomy as development institutions and managers of the handling on the docks. There’s the rub since it entails the transfer to private companies of crane operators, who had been so far employees of the autonomous port (while enjoying premiums paid by handling companies). They would basically follow the same paths as the dockworkers hence the allusion to the transformation of their status in 1994 (enforcing the Le Driant Law 1992), after years of conflict. This is what the CGT syndicate protested against, strongly opposing this transfer that changes the working conditions which were very favorable in terms of working hours and wages. However, this situation means lower productivity than competing ports and raises problems of coordination with the new status of dockworkers (now monthly paid and employed by stevedoring companies).

In fact, the governmental project and the resulting law, just like the protest they created, entered in a tug-of-war which had started in Marseille, many years earlier, regarding the dockworkers and was taken up again in July 2004 concerning the crane operators (refer to the thematic path of the Port of Marseille).

The problem of working hours and their flexibility led to the conflict which first peaked between November 2004 and February 2005, marked with a strike of crane operators every weekend. The conflict was then revived at the end of September for two weeks while blocking the ports of Fos and Marseille (parallel to the conflict on the status of the SNCM which ensures notably the connection with Corsica). The movement was resumed in March 2007, for 18 days, over the Fos- Cavaou gas terminal operated by the Gaz de France (GDF) where the CGT had hired port agents while GDF intended to handle transshipment operations through its employees only. Behind this conflict, emerged the issue of who would control the future terminal Fos 2XL, which was to open in 2009 for the benefit of CMA-CGM, presided by Jacques Saade, the third largest shipping company in the world and one of the key players in the sector. This is why, the CGT protested, in 2008, in front of the tall tower housing the company's headquarters. Fearing the division of the port into specialized sectors whose operation would be transferred to private companies, the CGT called for the transfer of operations to subsidiary companies in which the port would own the majority hence retaining the control over jobs. The syndicate also was concerned that the new status would turn into a social plan affecting the 1500 employees of the Autonomous Port of Marseille and into the stranglehold of the CMA-CGM over the activities that it could transfer from one sector to the other; from Marseille to Fos for instance.

The passage of the bill in July 2008 and signing a framework agreement between the port federation CGT and the employers late October didn't end tensions. In December 2008, blocking Fos' oil terminals forced the government to concede the transfer of the agents of oil terminals to a subsidiary. The conflict resurfaced in Marseille, in February 2009, with a go-slow strike in the east basin (goods), after the Supervisory Board of the GPMM (port maritime de Marseille) adopted its strategic plan. The conflict was news again, for 33 days towards the end of September 2010, not without internal tensions within the CGT between the east basins (Marseille, sector of goods in deficit) and the west basins (dominated by the lucrative oil and gas sector). The transfer of the personnel to the private sector was underway in spring 2011.

Above this social "battle", the attraction and therefore the position and development of the port of Marseille were at stake, beyond regional economy. First port of the Mediterranean and 4^th port in Europe, with 100 million-ton traffic in 2007, Marseille aspired for 120 million tons in 2013. But its traffic dropped by more than 13% in 2009, partly due to disturbances caused by repeated conflicts and also due to problems pertaining to inefficient work organization. These factors contributed to diverting some traffic from Marseille, especially perishable goods and containers. Many French traders, including those from Lyon region, preferred to opt for the ports in the Northern Sea. In 2006, the Court of Auditors noted the decline of Marseille in the benefit of its direct competitors; Barcelona and Genoa which witnessed more important growth. The Court attributed this to the handling cost in Marseille; a third higher than competitors, and largely due to wasting time during loading and unloading.