The Hindu Business Line : Port, dock workers plan one-day stir in March

Five major federations representing the country’s port and dock workers plan to organise nationwide protest day in March against the Government’s delay in implementing their long pending demands. The federations were also against the plan to corporatise some of the major ports.

At a meeting in Mumbai on February 22 and 23, the federations decided to direct their affiliated unions at respective ports to organise “nationwide” protest day, Mr T. Narendra Rao, General Secretary, Water Transport Workers Federation of India, told Business Line.

The five federations are: Water Transport Workers Federation of India, All India Port & Dock Workers Federation, All India Port & Dock Workers Federation (workers), Port, Dock & Waterfront Workers Federation and Indian National Port & Dock Workers Federation.

The demands

Mr Rao said the demands are:

(i) Payment of 15 per cent Interim Relief from the basic pay with effect from January 1, 2007.

(ii) Merger of 50 per cent Industrial Dearness Allowance with basic pay from January 1, 2005 from the date at which it crossed the 50 per cent mark.

(iii) Delay in the payment of balance amount of productivity linked reward (PLR) after amendment to PLR settlement raising the definitions of wages and eligibility of the employees for PLR (bonus).

(iv) An early meeting on the one-man committee’s recommendations of categorisation and classification of employees at the Major Ports.

(iv) Not to corporatise major ports, as assured by the Shipping Minister, Mr T.R. Baalu.

(v) The early submission of R.K. Jain committee’s recommendations on realistic assessment of required man power at the Major Ports.

Mr Rao said in September the Shipping Minister assured the federations that “as long as he is the shipping minister” there will be no such plan to corporatise the major ports.

While Ennore is the country’s only corporatised port, there was an earlier plan to corporatise the ports of Haldia and Jawaharlal Nehru Port.

“We now hear that the corporatisation plan has resurfaced in the Ministry,” Mr Rao said.

On the Jain committee, Mr Rao said after the ban at entry level recruitment in the year 2000, there is a vacancy for around 13,000 employees at the major ports.

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