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V. Sajeev Kumar

Kochi , Sept. 6

THE Cochin Port Staff Association, major trade union in the port, will go on an indefinite strike from Wednesday to protest against the delay in appointing labour trustees on the newly constituted Board of Trustees of the Kochi port.

The CPSA Working President, Mr P.M. Mohammed Haneef, said that the meeting of the newly constituted Board is slated on September 9 and the authorities had so far not taken any steps to appoint trustees representing labour in view of a pending litigation before the Supreme Court.

He pointed out that the representative of trade unions on the Board is inevitable so as to protect the interests of workers in the organisation. At a time when the port is going ahead with the Vallarpadam Terminal project, presence of trade union members in the Board is absolutely essential while considering various issues, including workers job security, he said.

As per the rules, the meeting of the newly constituted Board had to be held on September 9 and the Association is demanding to include its representative in the Board before the meeting. The decision to go ahead with the meeting without labour trustees can be viewed as a ploy to avoid the trade unions from the decision making process of the port, he alleged.

The Port Chairman, Dr Jacob Thomas, when contacted, said that the port has no say in the appointment of labour trustees. It was up to the Government to take a decision. The delay is, he said, because of the case before the Supreme Court on the mode of selection of majority unions. The case is coming up for hearing soon and once the Apex Court takes a view on that, the Ministry will be able to appoint labour trustees, he said.

According to Mr Haneef, the Shipping Ministry has not taken any steps to include union members into the Board on account of the litigation relating to the "continuation of check off system" in the port.

More Stories on : Trade & Labour Unions | Shipping

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