Page 41 - Chargement... GPMG ANNUAIRE - 2021 - By bucerep

INTERVIEW

PHILIPPE YSNEL
President of the Union Maritime et Portuaire de Guyane

THE CONTEXT OF THE CREATION THE UNION MARITIME
ET PORTUAIRE DE GUYANE
The years 2004-05 and the beginning of 2006 proved to be relatively complex
years in terms of port labour relations whilst being affected by multiple
conflicts impacting different sectors of French Guiana’s port community.

The dialogue had broken down within the Dégrad-des-Cannes port community. As the main shipping
companies serving the port could no longer unload their cargo due to the repeated blockades, they
continued on to other Caribbean ports. The whole French Guiana economy was seriously affected by this.

It is in this context that the CMA-CGM and MARFRET shipping companies at the time, called for
the entire port to community to come together around a table with the goal of creating a UNION
MARITIME ET PORTUAIRE as in all the principal French and European ports.

The UMEP GUYANE was thus created with very precise objectives: to ensure that the port community
can express itself with a single voice whilst proactively putting forward proposals to the authorities of
the time.

This UMEP GUYANE was formed not only with all the labour and professional organisations but also
the Pilots and maritime agents, the handlers, the freight forwarders and the road hauliers…

THE OBJECTIVES OF THE UNION MARITIME ET PORTUAIRE DE GUYANE

At the time, I was president of the Freight Forwarders’ Union of French Guiana and naturally became
involved in the committee at the origin of the creation of the UMEP GUYANE before being elected as
the first president of the UMEP GUYANE in 2006 (OJ of 21 October 2006).

The UMEP GUYANE is now a full member of the UMPF bringing together the Unions Maritimes et
Portuaires in France and the overseas regions.
With the goal of strengthening the harmonisation of our resources, we wanted to create a port IT
system that could be used by the entire port community of French Guiana. This is how the CCS
(Cargo Community System) was born, operated by the GIP+, headed by Philippe MARRE and
responsible for the management of our current AP+ port software.
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