France's main union for port workers has called for weekly 24-hour strikes to protest against government reforms and proposed privatization.

The Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT) has been protesting government plans to reform the nation's ports. At the core of the reforms is the privatisation of commercial activities, including cargo handling and terminal operations.

Multiple strikes have been staged since French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said in January that cargo handling operations at seven of the country's nine public ports were on course for privatisation.

The shipping industry has been pressing the government to reform French ports in a push for greater efficiency.

Fillon has said he was aware of worries about job security and said that the authorities would be “very attentive to the situation of port workers”.

The latest call for weekly stoppages comes on top of an indefinite ban on working overtime, on weekends and on public holidays.

The union believes that "the government is taking the deliberate risk of handing over keys in the hands of particularly profitable port terminals to mainly foreign private operators," reports said.

“Certain port users would be discriminated against in terms of tariffs and quality of service as private sector monopolies took over terminals, while the investment programme announced by the government would be mainly paid for by local authorities and, indirectly, by taxpayers,” said the CGT.

“Certain employers and the government are autistic. Dialogue is not really wanted. The time for action has come,” it added.