NEW DELHI – Indian port and dock workers have called for an indefinite strike on April 30 to demand implementation of promises the government made in January.
The strike will affect all of the 12 major ports, said S. R. Kulkarni, president of the All India Port and Dock Workers Federation.
Kulkarni said representatives of five federations of port and dock workers have written to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, seeking his intervention to stop the strike.
More than 100,000 port and dock workers struck in January to press for a charter of demands that included higher pay and benefits. That strike was called off after five days following an agreement with Surface Transport Minister Rajnath Singh.
Singh agreed to obtain a government decision by March 31 on worker demands for pay increases every five years and payment of housing allowances.
Trade union leaders said the issues remain to be resolved, and that negotiations have produced no results.
Singh has called a meeting of port chairmen in New Delhi on April 26 to review the wage settlement talks. Trade union leaders have been invited.
Port and dock officers also appear to be restive. Shomnath Chakravarty, president of the All India Port and Dock Officers Federation, said the Surface Transport Ministry has set up a committee to examine the officers’ complaints about work-force restructuring and pay scales.
