ATHENS, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Workers at Greece's Piraeus Port suspended on Saturday a strike against a deal allowing China's Cosco Pacific to operate two piers, after the new government brokered a cooling-off period.
"The strike is suspended until Nov. 2," George Nouhoutides, head of the dockworkers' union said. Talks will be held during the cooling off period to review the deal.
The walkout began on Oct. 1, the day Cosco Pacific took over management of the piers at the state-controlled port, Greece's biggest.
Cosco, the world's fifth-largest port operator, struck the 3.4 billion euro ($5 billion), 35-year concession deal with Greece's previous conservative administration, which was voted out of office in Oct. 4 elections.
Workers have opposed the deal, claiming it may lead to job cuts. It is not yet clear which parts of the concession agreement will be reviewed in the talks.
The strike had threatened to disrupt supplies of merchandise and raw materials in Athens, where half of Greece's population live. Between 3,000 and 4,000 containers with tonnes of merchandise have piled up at the piers.
"It will take three to four days to clear the backlog," Nouhoutides said. (Reporting by Harry Papachristou; editing by David Stamp)