Port of Vigo Hosts 150 European Dockworkers at EDC Assembly

The Port of Vigo became the venue this Wednesday for the International Assembly of Dockworkers of Europe, organized by the European Dockworkers Council (EDC). The meeting, held at the Session Building of the Vigo Port Authority (APV), brought together around 150 representatives from the stevedoring sector from different European countries, in addition to the Spanish port network.

The assembly was led by Antolín Goya, general coordinator of the EDC and also general coordinator of the Coordinadora Estatal de Trabajadores del Mar. Among the countries represented were France, Sweden, Denmark, Greece, Slovenia, Montenegro, Cyprus, Malta and Croatia. At the opening, the president of the APV, Carlos Botana, expressed the pride it represents for the Vigo port to host this international congress and underlined the opportunity to highlight the role of stevedoring companies and dockworkers in the logistics and socioeconomic chain.

Both Goya and Botana agreed in pointing to fluid social dialogue as a key tool for maintaining competitiveness and addressing the strong growth in port traffic, affirming that this shared effort translates into employment, stability and a contribution to the economy. Botana also highlighted the "joint work" with dockworkers to face the challenges arising from the increase in traffic in recent years, which he described as key to overcoming difficult times and generating real economic benefit, stressing the need to coordinate future challenges in the face of competition from other international markets.

The port president highlighted that the cargo moving through the Vigo port, such as automobiles or fish, is high value-added, which makes the work of dockworkers "key." According to Ports Europe, the assembly in Vigo took place months after the EDC decided to withdraw from the European Commission's social dialogue committee for ports.