News / Union claims up to 8,000 Spanish stevedore jobs could be axed under new employment rules

Barcelona

Thousands of Spanish dockworkers’ jobs are at threat if the country’s government follows through with plans to enact EU legislation, according to the International Dockworkers Council (IDC).

The decision follows a European Court of Justice (ECJ) decision in 2014 that ruled the existing legislation was at odds with Article 49 of the EU Treaty’s freedom of establishment principle.

Under Spanish law, dockworkers must be members of stevedoring societies, known as Sociedad Anonima de Gestion de Estibadores Portuarios (Sageps), which recruit and train ...