for the Corsican workers’ union, “the basic problem is competition in transport”

“The basic problem is competition in transport”said Friday October 4 on France Bleu Frequenza Mora Etienne Santucci, national secretary in charge of the treasury of the Corsican workers’ union (STC), who launched a spontaneous strike movement which led to the blocking of the four airports on Thursday afternoon and six ports of the island and hundreds of travelers.

“We do not agree on competition in transport, whether on infrastructure or on transport lines”insisted the union representative. This spontaneous movement of employees of the island’s Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CCI) comes after the stormy general assembly of the CCI on Thursday, during which Alexandre Patrou, secretary general for Corsican affairs (Sgac) who represented the Prefect of Corsica has expressed his reluctance on the plan to create two open mixed unions (SMO) port and airport by the end of the year.

He argued that there was a “significant legal risk” and that the State would not grant a blank check. The concessions expire on December 31 and a call for tenders could decide to award them to the private sector as has been the case on the continent since 2020.

For the STC, it is necessary “that the State reconsiders its positions and validates the agreements” granting concessions to the island CCI so that it can continue to manage the island’s ports and airports from January 1, 2025. According to Etienne Santucci, “we have to go through a negotiation with Brussels” in order to exclude Corsica from the European tender system for transport and “port and airport infrastructure”. “We risk having large groups who come to swallow up and recover subsidies for their own interest and not for the interest of the community,” warns the unionist.