Major Port Workers’ Federations Plan an Indefinite Strike

Port and dock workers from all the major ports across the country will declare an indefinite strike from or after May 30, as per the protest call of the National coordination committee of major port workers’ federations. Ahead of the indefinite strike, National coordination committee consisting of all the major unions – CITU, AITUC, INTUC, HMS and BMS – has decided to organise a nation-wide one-day protest on May 28.

One of the demands of the workers is the “immediate settlement of new wage agreement and other service conditions including pensionary benefits with effect from January 2017,” said T Narendra Rao, general secretary of the Water Transport Workers Federation of India, which is affiliated to CITU.

“We demand that the Major Port Authorities Bill 2016 should not be introduced for voting in the parliament without accepting the recommendations of the parliamentary committee,” said Rao.

The Major Ports Authorities Bill 2016 which was introduced in Lok Sabha on December 16, 2016, by the Minister of State for Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan seeks to provide greater autonomy and flexibility to major ports across the country. The bill repeals the Major Port Trusts Act 1963 too.

“The government had decided to outsource for the existing port hospitals under Public Private Partnership. We oppose that move,” he said. 

The Modi government has introduced the Indian Ports Bill, 2018 repealing the Indian Ports Act 1908. More than 20 clauses have been removed from the existing act of 1908, which are related to the revenue generation of the ports. As per the 1908 Act, the revenue generated should be deposited in the ports account fund. The particular fund is used for paying allowances, provident fund, gratuity etc. to the workers. However, the new bill exempts all these part, Rao added. 

Though the government maintains that the draft of the Indian Ports Bill, 2018, is being prepared “keeping in view the need to repeal the obsolete clause and propose new clauses which are beneficial for Maritime Sector and to bring in professional approach in the governance”, the unions say that the move is to help the corporate the private entities only.

Rao explained, “The Modi government is trying to simply do this for ease of doing business for the big corporates in the shipping sector.”

India has 12 major ports, which are handling approximately 61 per cent of the country’s cargo traffic. Kandla, Mumbai, JNPT, Mormugao, New Mangalore, Kochi, Chennai, Ennore, VO Chidambaranar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata are those major ports in India.