Dockers and other staff at Bangladesh’s Port of Chittagong went on strike Monday, the second such job action in a week, to protest the government intention to bring in a private container terminal operator.
While the strike last week lasted eight hours, the walkout on Monday was for 24 hours starting at 8 a. m.
More than 22 trade unions representing 10,000 workers and employees are protesting the proposed terminal, to be built by Stevedoring Services of America Inc.
At demonstration Sunday, union leaders rejected a call by the chairman of the port to end the strike, and instead threatened to extend it in order to pressure the port to scrap its plans.
Mahfuzur Rahman Khan, leader of the labor alliance, said the unions would bring work to a halt for an indefinite period at Chittagong, which handles 80% of Bangladesh’s seaborne trade, if the government signs a contract.
Khan said a foreign private port in the vicinity of defense installations, including naval base, naval jetties, Chittagong International Airport and airbase would pose a threat to national security. He alleged that the port would also adversely affect Bangladesh’s economic interests.
The government granted preliminary approval for the container terminal in 1998, but an definitive agreement was blocked by agreement stiff opposition. The $438 million project includes the construction of two terminals, one at Patenga near Chittagong and another inland terminal at Pangaon in Dhaka.
