"Une vraie histoire de chiottes" is how one union leader described the cause of a strike in the port of Marseille last week. Now as you all know, a "chiotte" is not a female puppy (chiot) but a fairly rude word for toilet (think of s***house).
Two trades unions share a building at the port with a joint toilet accessed from a door on each side's offices. The larger union, the CGT, decided to board up the entrance from the smaller union's (FO) side and duly arrived with planks and screwdriver. FO hearing the noise behind the door forced their way in and an altercation, including physical force, ensued, leading to intervention by the police.
FO complained and their members staged a strike, demanding management condemn the CGT for "violence in the workplace". The strike paralysed the port for several hours.
CGT leaders declined to comment, saying they had more important things to do - not more important it would seem than locking their comrades out of the loo.
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