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Dockers ready to take action at ports across India
29 August 2008
 |  |  view larger image | | | Jawaharlal Nehru Trust Port, Navi Mumbai, India [Photo: Jaxer, CC-by-3.0] | |
Dockers are set to take industrial action across India if a fair wage deal cannot be reached by October.
President of the ITF-affiliated All India Port and Dock Workers’ Federation (AIPDWF), SR Kulkarni, told members of a bipartite wage negotiation committee (BWNC), which met in New Delhi yesterday, that workers would take nationwide industrial action if a settlement could not be reached. Workers’ demands had been outstanding for the past 20 months, he said.
The AIPDWF, one of a number of labour federations represented at the meeting, is demanding fair benefits and a settlement that covers a period of five years. Kulkarni and Mohammed Haneef, AIPDWF General Secretary, reminded the government of the additional benefits awarded to other government employees recently, stating that “it should not be difficult for the BWNC to arrive at a satisfactory settlement with the federations.”
Haneef said: “Unless all the important aspects are settled, it is futile to continue the negotiations, although the Federation firmly believes in bipartite negotiation and settlement. However, the workers at all the major ports have exhausted the limits of their patience and they can not wait for an indefinite period in the hope of reaching a settlement.”
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