The All-India Port & Dock Workers Federation, the umbrella body of five leading labour federations representing over 60,000 port and dock workers across the country, today said they will go ahead with their January 4 strike call.
The move comes following the failure of a wage dispute settlement with the port managements. The proposed strike will hamper cargo handling capacity of almost 10,500 tonne per day and an estimated revenue loss of Rs 500 crore.
"Talks were inconclusive. The managements are refusing to negotiate on paying allowances with retrospective effect. They are going back on terms agreed on earlier. Therefore we have decided to go on strike from January 4," All-India Port and Dock Workers Federation (AIPDWF) general secretary SR Kulkarni told reporters here today.
Arrears on allowances are payable to over 60,000 workers with effect from January 1, 2007. Port managements want to pay allowances prospectively once a settlement is arrived at, which the federations are opposed to.
"Three years have passed in negotiations with the government, but no fruitful results have come in yet. Payment of allowances prospectively will affect the workers. So, we decided to go on strike as the last option," Kulkarni said.