	neither side optimistic on rotterdam port issues employers and the port union fnv are to meet again this afternoon to attempt a settlement of the six week old dispute in rotterdam s general cargo sector but neither side is optimistic spokesmen for both sides told reuters little progress was made in last night s three hours of talks with both sides largely reiterating their positions there is still a very large gap between the employers and the fnv and i can t say that we expect to reach any agreement but at least we are still talking a union spokesman said employers organization chairman jacques schoufour accused the fnv of intransigence in refusing to alter its stance at all over the past two months the fnv is not serious about our discussions and i am really not optimistic about it changing its point of view at all if we find this afternoon that the fnv still refuses to accept the necessary redundancies in the general cargo sector then we will break off the talks and the redundancies may begin later this month schoufour said the series of strikes which employers say has cost them more than seven mln guilders in lost import business in the past six weeks began on january in protest at plans for redundancies from the sector s workforce starting with this year late last month social affairs minister louw de graaf said unless the dispute was settled by yesterday he would withdraw the sector s mln guilder annual labour subsidy both sides wrote to the minister yesterday setting out their cases but schoufour said he did not expect to hear from him before wednesday at the earliest reuter 
