ATHENS, Greece_Workers at container ports in Piraeus and Thessaloniki ended a seven-week protest Tuesday after Greece's conservative government agreed to postpone plans to privatize the facilities.

Protesting unions and Merchant Marine Ministry officials said that under the deal port workers will resume overtime and weekend work to clear a massive backlog of shipping containers that cost the Pireaus Port Authority SA some €1.5 million ($2 million) a week.

In return, the government froze plans for the privatization of the container operations and said it would start a three-month dialogue with unions.

In November, the port authority called for bids for a 25-year contract to invest in and manage container terminal operations at Greece's busiest port.

The port's annual container capacity is 1.5 million containers, with plans to increase the total to 3.5 million by 2010. Container operations account for 68 percent of the authority's turnover.

Piraeus is among the 10 largest ports in Europe with the most container traffic in the eastern Mediterranean.

Two of the port's major customers, Swiss-based Mediterranean Shipping Company SA and Israel's Zim shipping, have both said they would cut back operations at Piraeus because of the labor action.