French port strikes: Unions 'will get better working conditions', but can they curb militarisation?

Carys Garland is pleased to welcome Renaud Foucart, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Economics ECARES at Lancaster University. An international dockworkers’ strike brings into focus the relationship between organized labor, technological change and Europe’s expanding military investment. Foucart argues that port workers’ strategic position in global supply chains gives them exceptional leverage: “They know how powerful they are.” While questioning their ability to redirect military policy, he expects that leverage to secure concessions on automation and working conditions: “They can get th