Battles lost and won

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The struggle to turn education into action in the ports of India, by Mahendra Sharma , Deputy Regional Secretary, ITF Asia/Pacific Region, based in New Delhi, India.

It was way back in 1994 that the ITF Delhi Office organised a seminar in Bangalore to discuss the International Monetary Fund's structural adjustment programme for India and its consequences for port and dockworkers in the country. The leadership of all 10 affiliated port unions, spread out along India's 6000 km coastline, attended.

We used the forum to discuss the implications for the port industry of the new policies unleashed by the government of India in 1991, which paved the way for liberalisation of the economy, delicensing, restructuring and privatisation of the public sector undertakings.

We presented the findings of the ITF survey on reform and structural adjustment in the world's ports – The future for labour and the unions. Finally we explained that the survey findings would help the port unions in India to learn from the experiences of restructuring in other ports in the world, and help them plan and devise appropriate organisational strategies to influence the course of port restructuring in India.

To our not so pleasant surprise, the general refrain at the seminar was that the government of India would not dare to undertake sweeping reforms in Indian ports in the face of a roaring leadership of the port unions. We left it at that.

Reality check
But it did not take long for the situation to change. By the year 1998 a new scenario had already unfolded with widespread reduction of manpower, and pressure to lower manning levels, welfare and so on. There was increasing employment of casual workers, alongside outsourcing, privatisation of port terminals and berths and increased private sector participation in many hitherto port sector-operated activities.

The retirement age at all major ports was rolled back to 58 years, special voluntary retirement schemes were offered and thousands of workers and even union activists queued up to exit from the industry. Major international container terminals like P&O Ports and PSA Corp made inroads in acquiring dedicated container terminals in JNPT, Chennai and Tuticorin port.

The new Ennore port was commissioned as the country's first corporatised port. And, in all these rapidly unfolding developments, the established unions found themselves left out, sometimes due to myopic strategies and lethargy and sometimes because they were simply ignored and not involved in the process. Alarm bells began ringing in union houses and panic set in.

It was at this time, in 1999, that the ITF Delhi Office, in consultation with the ITF Dockers' Section, decided to run a series of educational activities, funded by the ITF Welfare Fund and in line with Chapter 8 of the Delhi Policy.

Education strategy
These educational seminars, it was envisaged, would help the port unions in India to strengthen themselves and thus, among other things, maintain the success of the ITF's flag of convenience campaign in Indian ports. The aim was to help leaders and activists to exchange information and learn about developments and trends in the world port industry, and the reasons behind reforms and privatisation.

The discussions would also help them to relate the ongoing global developments in the context and perspective of developments taking place in the port industry in India. They would ultimately prepare unions to build a proactive strategy of participation in the process of reform, and to safeguard the interests of port workers, even though it seemed to be a bit late in the day.

In the last few years, three such educational activities have been conducted in Calcutta (2000), Cochin (2002) and Chennai (2003). A fourth is scheduled for Mumbai in 2004. The response to these seminars has been overwhelming, with the leaders and activists of port unions showing great interest and enthusiasm to learn.

The sidelines of the seminars have been marked by some interesting anecdotes. During the first seminar in Calcutta, ITF representatives were asked whether they were actually promoting privatisation. At another, ITF Dockers Section Secretary Kees Marges suggested that in its then current state, Mumbai port might have a brighter future as a museum.

In fact he was always anxious to point out: “Unions are not against privatisation as a matter of principle. They judge a reform and thus privatisation on the basis of its effects on the interests of workers.”

If one was to evaluate the output of these seminars as compared to the input infused, the results are not encouraging. We still lack union strategies to influence the port reforms programme. Ad hoc actions and agitations have not been replaced by longterm planning, education and mobilisation of workers. Almost all the private container terminals have non-unionised workforces and in some workplaces established unions have missed out on opportunities or faltered in the process.

Private operators have now set their eyes on developing the strategic minor ports (there are 139 dotting India's coastline). None of the established unions have as yet ventured to organise labour at these ports. A large and growing force of casual and contract workers at the established ports still remain outside the ambit of the union organisation. These and related issues, though discussed at most of the Chapter 8 seminars, have yet to be translated into concrete union actions.

Why do unions need education on port reforms?
Ongoing liberalisation and deregulation of the port industry is creating huge repercussions for port workers worldwide. Registered and trained port workers are forced to compete for jobs with casual, non-trained and thus cheap labour. Port workers have also to compete with seafarers, who often are not covered by decent labour contracts and generally earn much lower salaries.

A number of years into the process of “institutional reform” as it is officially called – unions are concluding that the process has not strengthened the position of organised labour on the waterfront. On the contrary. As a consequence of the reforms, employment opportunities for port workers, their working conditions, and health and safety conditions at the workplace – all have deteriorated dramatically.

Even the World Bank has acknowledged that trade unions representing port workers should be involved in the reform process from the very early stages on, but governments appear unwilling to accept that position. Only when trade unions threaten to strike or indeed do organise industrial action, as in South Africa recently, do some governments suddenly take notice.

Thousands of port workers have already fallen victim to the effects of badly devised reforms, imposed without consultation. But it is never too late for trade unions to take up the fight for a voice in ongoing developments. Governments must realise that modernised ports can only function successfully when workers are directly involved in the reform process. In order for this to happen, union leaders and memberships need to understand what is happening at the local and international level, and how they can play a part in it.

Discussion points for seminars

1. Developments and trends in the world port industry:

liberalisation, deregulation, privatisation, globalisation of ownership and management, new technologies, human resource policies.

2. Competition and its effects.

3. Which port services might be privatised.

4. Why port reform and privatisation happen.

5. Management models used by ports all over the world.

6. The modernisation and privatisation process, step by step.

7. How to develop and implement a union policy.

8. The function, role, structure and policy of the ITF, in relation to port reform.

9. The importance of the ITF FOC campaign for port workers.

10. Sharing and discussion of delegates' experiences of port reform.

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Issue 13 October 2003

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