Dock workers fought with police and smashed windows at the European Parliament building Monday during a violent protest over a proposal to liberalize port services across the European Union. Strikes and work slowdowns also disrupted cargo handling at several ports as trade unions pressed their opposition to the plan even as EU legislators predicted it would be rejected. Police used water cannons and tear gas to try to keep thousands of protesting dockers away from the EU legislature in this eastern French city. But the mob surged forward, hurling rocks, logs and metal fences to shatter large sections of glass in the glass-and-steel building, located on the outskirts of this eastern French city. The damage was estimated at several hundred thousand euros (dollars), the parliament said. Earlier, police fired pepper gas into crowds of demonstrators after port workers hurled flares, canisters, glasses and stones at the security services during a violent march through the city center. One policeman was hospitalized with a head wound, and 11 officers suffered light injuries, according to the parliament's press service. Workers in yellow vests accompanied by marching bands set off smoke bombs and waved banners saying "Victory to the dockers." Some cars were set alight, and smoke mingled with the smell of pepper spray hung heavy in some parts of the town. The protesters moored a boat on the river outside the parliament.
At least 6,000 workers from all major European ports, including Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg and Marseille, and from as far away as Australia and the United States, participated in the demonstration organized by several trade unions. At the same time, workers closed down cargo handling in Antwerp, Belgium - Europe's second biggest port - and strikes affected harbor work in Portugal, Germany and Denmark. Dockers in Sweden and in Rotterdam, Europe's largest port, held short work stoppages.