A group of Indian port workers’ unions has called for a strike from Aug. 28 to demand immediate settlement of pay revisions and pension benefits, according to a note signed by its members.
A strike by India’s port workers could exacerbate the existing congestion issues at Asian and European ports, leading to further delayed shipments, which have a global impact on trade and commerce.
According to the note, the shipping ministry formed a bipartite wage negotiation committee in March 2021, and the workers submitted their demands six months later, ahead of the expiration of the previous agreement in December of that year.
The note said that although the wage negotiation committee met seven times, it failed to meet the port workers’ demands.
The workers’ group agreed to call for a strike after a meeting this month in Thoothukudi, a port city in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
Around 20,000 workers are part of the group of port workers’ unions, and all of them would join the strike, said Sathya Narayanan, a senior union member who sits on the board of the V. O. Chidambaranar Port Trust in Thoothukudi.
The immediate impact of the strike might not be grave, but if it goes on for more than two to three days, the ramifications would be severe, he said on Monday.
In the note, the workers’ group said that the government and port management should consider demands such as pay scale revisions, payment of arrears, and protection of exiting benefits to help avoid the strike.
India’s federal shipping ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The finding comes as bad weather and disease have hurt cocoa production and sent global prices soaring.
According to the shipping ministry, the annual cargo handling capacity of major Indian ports such as Chennai, Cochin, and Mumbai totaled 1.62 billion metric tons.
In the fiscal year to March 31, 2024, India exported goods worth $437 billion, with imports estimated at $677 billion.
Source: CSN Shipping News
