Strike by loading workers: Tea movement hit in Kochi auctions 

Tea movement from the warehouses in Willingdon Island for local as well as export delivery post the auctions has been hit in view of the strike by a section of trade unions in Cochin Port Trust, demanding wage revision.

Sources in the Tea Buyers Association of Cochin told BusinessLine that around six lakh kg of auctioned brew was lying idle in the warehouses for the last three days due to the ongoing strike and many shippers are not in a position to dispatch their cargo to meet their export commitments, especially in the fag- end of the financial year.

Small buyers affected

Major corporate buyers have their own arrangements to load teas, while it was small buyers and individual exporters who have been affected, sources said. A section of workers belonging to Cochin Thuramugha Thozhilali Union (CTTU) are demanding wage hike which the trade is not able to afford tn the pandemic times when there is already a subdued demand for the brew. Currently, the trade is providing a loading charge of ₹15.5 per bag in Willingdon Island area, whereas the charges in the neighbouring Mattanchery area was lower at ₹8.75.

The loading charges would be reviewed every two years and the trade is not in a position to give increased wages in the present situation. The subdued demand is evident in the auctions where tea prices for several grades have dropped in the absence of local buying. The shift of consumers to blended and packet teas have also impacted local buying, the sources said.

Cochin Port Trust officials have taken up the issue with Kerala Head Load Workers Welfare Board and urged them to maintain the current wages to remain competitive among other neighbouring ports and to attract at least some share of the cargo which have been diverted to other ports. The officials requested the Board to desist from any move to hike the wages as it would not only be detrimental to the interests of the port but it would also lead to denial of job opportunities to workers.

A further upward revision of wages at this juncture, where there is a significant drop in cargo handling coupled with hike in ocean freight, non-availability of suitable vessels, and overall depressed market conditions, would only drive away the business from the port, a senior port official said.

Already, the bi-annual wage revision enforced by the Headload Workers Welfare Board has resulted in a compounded increase of wages in case of general cargo by 170 per cent. These exorbitant hikes have cost implications and lead to making cargo handling unviable, he added.

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