All major Indian Port and Dock workers plan hunger strike on July 25 & 26

KOLKATA : Indian major port and dock workers will go for two-day sit in hunger strike on July 25 and 26 in protest against the liberalized policies adopted by the Centre in the port sector.

A press release said that a decision was taken at the national working committee meeting of Water Transport Workers Federation of India at Kolkata. T.Narendra Rao, General Secretary of the Federation alleged that several steps being initiated by various major port authorities at the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways directives is highly detrimental and undermines the existence of major ports being a public entity.

The Government plans to divest its public ownership by handing over the ready built valuable assets and facilities such as its cargo handling terminal to corporates under National Assets Monetisation Pipeline projects.

He said in a statement that the overcapacity creation in major ports is happening at large scale thereby existence of several major ports are at stake in terms of cargo volume, low draft and financial crunch.

Several other genuine issues of port and dock workers are unsettled till today and the committee considered all these issues before deciding for the industrial action by joining hands with other sister organizations, he said.