Major ports invite workers for discussion next week ahead of strike call

NEW DELHI : Major ports operators have invited representatives of the ports and dock workers’ unions for a discussion in New Delhi on Tuesday next week to avert an indefinite nationwide strike call given by employee federations from August 28, a source said on Friday.

The worker unions at a national coordination committee meeting in Tuticorn (Tamil Nadu) on August 8 decided to strike work indefinitely from August 28 to press for immediate settlement of wage revision and benefits, pending for more than two years.

Subsequently, strike notices were served to the administrators of the respective ports on August 12.

Meanwhile, Mumbai Port Authority Chairman, Mr. Rajeev Jalota, told PTI that a meeting of the Bipartite Wage Negotiations Committee has been called in the national capital on August 28 to consider the workers’ joint charter of demands. Mr. Jalota is also the Chairman of the Bipartite Wage Negotiations Committee.

“We have already started deliberations with the workers’ representatives. We have invited them on August 27 in New Delhi for discussions on their demands. We are hopeful of an (amicable) solution,” the source said.

The workers unions are affiliated to five federations All India Port and Dock Workers’ Federation, All India Port and Dock Workers Federation (workers), Water Transport Workers Federation of India, Indian National Port and Dock Workers Federation and Port, Dock and Waterfront Workers Federation of India.

According to sources at the India Port and Dock Workers Federation (workers), the major port operators and the federations were to sign a five-year wage revision agreement prior to the expiry of the earlier wage pact on December 31, 2021.