The Hindu Business Line : Strike called off at Kochi port

Kochi, June 26 The four-day-old strike in the cargo handling section of the Kochi port was called off on Thursday night following discussions between the trade unions and the management.

Both the parties signed an MoU to provide additional manning in certain areas, within the provisions of the National Industrial Tribunal Award that came into effect at the Koch port on April 23.

According to the terms and conditions of the MoU, the manning scale in the cargo handling and mechanical engineering departments will be implemented immediately. It has been agreed that while implementing the Award in other major ports, if any higher scale of manning is accepted for a similar nature of work, then the manning scale that prevailed in Kochi as on April 22 will be restored for that specific work.

The terms and conditions are subject to any future decision by the Ministry of Shipping or by a higher judicial forum on the Award. The 24x7 working with ‘Roster off’ implemented in Kochi with effect from July 1, 2007 will be continued according to the system prevailing as on July 1, 2007.

The unions also agreed to withdraw all agitations and restore normalcy. Both the parties have agreed that due process of law and negotiations will be adopted in all matters relating to industrial relations, and as such, the unions would not resort to sudden stoppages of work or flash strikes. Certain trade unions have been resorting to strikes, protesting the implementation of the Award of the National Industrial Tribunal on manning scales. The current manning scales in Kochi were determined decades back, when cargo used to be loaded and unloaded manually. Over the years, cargo handling has become increasingly mechanised, requiring fewer labourers.

However, some of the old practices of deploying large numbers of workmen have been continuing even in respect of activities that are fully or partially mechanised.

Such large-scale deployment of men for activities that are not manpower-intensive causes wastage of resources and could even lead to accidents.

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