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Marseille port workers end strike Marseille port workers end strike
(40 minutes later)
Workers at the Fos-Lavera oil terminal in the French city of Marseille have voted to end their 18-day long strike. Workers at the French port of Marseille have ended an 18-day strike that had threatened to cut off fuel supplies to France and its neighbours.
The dock workers agreed to a deal with Gaz de France that will allow them to load and unload gas supplies at a new terminal opening at the end of 2007. At least 30 oil tankers were prevented from docking by the strike.
A backlog of ships can now use the hub after the strike came close to choking off fuel supplies to much of France. The dispute was over who should be authorised to discharge gas tankers at a new terminal - dock workers or employees of gas company Gaz de France.
The Marseille port is the world's third biggest for dealing with oil products and is crucial for exports to the US. In talks between unions and employers, it was agreed the port workers would be allowed to load and unload gas.
The port is the world's third biggest for dealing with oil products.
"Everyone is keen to resume work as quickly as possible and this will be done from the beginning of the afternoon," local union official Pascal Galeote said.
A backlog of ships, including a number of oil tankers, which were blocked by the strike will now be able to use the hub to resume deliveries within hours.
The Marseille terminal feeds several refineries in France, Germany and Switzerland, which could have been forced to halt production if the strike had carried on.