Workers at 12 govt-run major ports to go on indefinite strike from Wednesday

Around 18,000 port workers, affiliated with various unions and employed at 12 major ports, have threatened to stop work from 06:00 IST on Wednesday, August 28, following unsuccessful negotiations between the employers, government, and unions regarding pay and pension reforms. These discussions have been ongoing for over three years.

The All-India Ports and Dock Workers’ Federation, which represents employees at Deendayal (Kandla), Mumbai, Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT), Mormugao, New Mangalore, Kochi, Ennore (Kamarajar), Chennai, VOC Tuticorin, Visakhapatnam, Paradip, V.O. Chidambaranar Port, and Kolkata (including Haldia) Port, is planning to initiate the indefinite strike.

The Indian Ports Association (IPA), under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways (MoPSW), has been in talks with port workers’ union representatives since Monday, August 26, in an attempt to avert the strike. However, these negotiations have yet to resolve the deadlock.

The MoPSW acknowledges five federations, including the 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.

The wage structure for 23,193 Grade-III and IV workers at major ports expired at the end of December 2021.

The strike stems from workers' frustration with the central government, which operates the ports and pays their salaries, for failing to sign a new five-year wage revision agreement after the previous agreement expired more than two and a half years ago.