CHENNAI: A group of Indian port workers’ unions has called for a strike from Aug 28 to demand immediate settlement of pay revisions and pension benefits, according to a note signed by its members. A strike by India’s port workers could exacerbate the existing congestion issues at Asian and European ports, leading to further delayed shipments, which have a global impact on trade and commerce. The shipping ministry formed a bipartite wage negotiation committee in March 2021, and the workers submitted their demands six months later, ahead of the expiration of the previous agreement in December of that year, according to the note.

Although the wage negotiation committee met seven times, it failed to meet the port workers’ demands, the note said. The workers’ group agreed to call for a strike after a meeting this month in Thoothukudi, a port city in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

Around 20,000 workers are part of the group of port workers’ unions, and all of them would join the strike, said Sathya Narayanan, a senior union member who sits on the board of the V. O. Chidambaranar Port Trust in Thoothukudi. The immediate impact of the strike might not be grave, but if it goes on for more than two to three days, the ramifications would be severe, he said on Monday.

The government and port management should consider demands such as pay scale revisions, payment of arrears and protection of exiting benefits to help avoid the strike, the workers’ group said in the note. India’s federal shipping ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The annual cargo handling capacity of major Indian ports such as Chennai, Cochin and Mumbai totaled 1.62 billion metric tons, according to the shipping ministry. In the fiscal year to March 31, 2024, India exported goods worth $437 billion, with imports estimated at $677 billion. – Reuters