Vizag port strike ends

The seven-day long strike at the Visakhapatnam port by the Visakhapatnam Dock Labour Board (VDLB) workers and private pool cargo handling workers ended yesterday. Workers have started joining duties from Sunday second shift ie, 2 pm onwards.

After several rounds of talks, in the presence of the regional labour commissioner, with the build-operate-transfer (BOT) operator and both the worker unions, ie, Visakhapatnam Harbour and Port Workers Union and Visakhapatnam Dock Labour Board and Dock Workers Union agreed to resume work.

The VDLB workers went on strike on July 25 to protest against the private labour being engaged in the newly constructed EQ-8, EQ-9 berths by a private company.

"The port management has agreed to complete the merger process of VDLB with the port in a three-month time frame and the management has also agreed to solve all the pending demands of workers in a time bound schedule," P Ch Masen, general secretary, Visakhapatnam Harbour and Port Workers Union, told Business Standard.

The unions have demanded that the regional labour commissioner ascertain whether the two berths, EQ-8 and EQ-9, come under the dock area or not in a time frame of about 45 days. If the two berths come under the dock area the private operator should engage VDLB workers only, he said.

"We will protect the interests of the labour, including their job security. We will complete the merger process between VDLB and Visakhapatnam Port in three months and we will take all the necessary steps to fulfil the workers pending demands," K Ratna Kishore, chairman of Visakhapatnam Port Trust, told Business Standard.

"With the strike being called off, we will be able to complete the loading and unloading of cargos in the six berthed vessels in two days," Dattu Raju, traffic manager, Visakhapatnam Port, said.

If the strike had continued any further, port-based industries like the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, LG Polymers, Rain Calcining Limited and others industries would have seen their operations being affected seriously.