The Hindu Business Line : Have workers been docked by development?

The economic trends since the 1970s, such as deregulation, commercialisation and privatisation, have increasingly changed the management of public ports. Consequences of the reforms include job redundancies, changing job content and higher skill requirement. The benefits of wage increases, improved welfare services and better observance of safety and health standards are confined to the residual and newly engaged labour in the port sector, Mr C. Unnikrishnan Nair, Deputy Secretary of the Cochin Port Trust, said in a paper on "Development impact on labour-oriented sectors — a case study of Kochi".

The changing economic milieu, post-globalisation, has led to apprehensions among workers, he said. It is reflected in the statements made by the Indian unit of International Transport Workers Federation. According to the ITF, permanent, regular employment may be lost for workers registered with any of the cargo handling associations. Displaced port workers are not provided financial protection through such means as unemployment allowance, social security and severance allowance. The VRS (voluntary resignation scheme) and compensation packages were used when redundancies had occurred only for the official port workers.

Worker fears

Redundant port workers may not be absorbed by the informal sector. They may be left out in the structural adjustment process. The Government may not play an important role in negotiating change in the ports and harbour sector to protect the workers. Workers were apprehensive about being shifted from the relatively protected public sector to the private sector. They may have to accept lower wages, long and unscheduled working hours, insufficient rest periods, loss of welfare services and lower redundancy payments.

In this situation, greenfield projects such as the Vallarpadam Container Terminal represent a solution to avoid managing labour rendered surplus and partly to start afresh in a modern technological ambience.

Trend-setting terminal

The international container transhipment terminal proposed by the port is trendsetter in this regard. The promoter of the project has been handed over the existing container terminal with the idea of enabling to augment facilities and build up business volume so that when the promoter moves over to the new project at the greenfield area there is adequate capacity utilisation.

A group of 352 regular employees of the port was on the rolls at the time of handing over the existing terminal. Further, there are 39 employees of the port working on short-term basis, redeployed from less busy operational areas. There were 100 casual employees attending to various jobs related to containers, including lashing.

As per the BOT agreement, the 352 employees continue to be engaged by the BOT operator.

The Vallarpadam model has avoided keeping port employees surplus pursuant to engaging a private operator. This is the first time an Indian port has attempted this clause in BOT agreement and is, therefore, hailed as a trendsetter, Mr Nair said in the paper.

It is seen that the apex body of the major port trust has concurred with the model and incorporated such a condition in the guidelines for private participation in port projects as evolved by it. The BOT operator has the freedom to continue to engage or otherwise, the casual labour.

The infrastructure created for the terminal is utilised to create a group of similar maritime-related projects. New companies are coming up in an SEZ and they will focus on export of their products and services, a scenario in which dilution in quality and even quantity will not be accepted. Therefore, the employment will go to the most skilled and not necessarily to port employees rendered surplus.

Port as major employer

A second category of employment will be labour-oriented and can absorb labour rendered surplus in ports and other sectors. Such industries may make a higher demand on land area. To reserve land for future expansion of the port, the intervention of the authority is required to earmark it for future development.

In the case of Kochi, the Kerala Government is the appropriate authority. The presence of an apex planning body would have ensured the port plans for realisation of full potential of employment generation and that the other statutory bodies, considering that port development is a pre-condition to the sustained development of the city, accommodate its plans.

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