An indefinite strike that was set to take place across 12 state-owned ports in India on Dec. 17 has been avoided. More than 18,000 union dockworkers across six federations called off the strike after the Indian government said it would press their employers to honor the terms of their recently signed five-year agreement.
India’s ministry of ports, shipping and waterways has received government approval to order the Indian Ports Association (IPA) to implement revised contract conditions including wage adjustments and pension benefits that had been initially agreed to in the late summer.
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The dockworkers would have walked off the job had they not gotten a settlement. These assurances were unmet and wage and benefit promises were not being kept.
“There was an issue over the agreement which was signed with the workers unions. That has now been approved and we are in the process of issuing orders to the Indian Ports Association to implement the settlement finalized by the Bipartite Wage Negotiation Committee,” a government official told Indian publication Infra from The Economic Times. “That was the reason for the workers to call for the strike and now since it is no more, there will be no strike.”
Already having threatened strike action in August ahead of the initial contract agreement, the national coordination committees of India’s six port dockworker unions met last month in Goa to set an indefinite strike date again.
The federations initially agreed to an 8.5 percent wage increase over five years, backdated to Jan. 1, 2022, as well as cost-of-living adjustments, a monthly allowance of 500 rupees ($5.95).
An updated performance-based bonus system was also part of the settlement. However, although that reward system was approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Union Cabinet in October, the unions said retired employees were not seeing the retroactive benefits owed by the IPA.
The federations told Infra that even after signing the agreement, IPA management would not implement the settlement “for reasons known to them alone.”
Apparel businesses importing merchandise and textiles from India will be happy with the decision. According to estimates from the World Trade Organization (WTO), 3 percent of the world’s clothing originates in India, with the country exporting $15.4 billion in apparel in 2023. India is the fifth-largest apparel exporter in the world, after China, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Turkey.
From April to November, the 12 IPA ports handled 549,469 metric tons of cargo, a 2.6 percent increase over throughput in the 2023 period. The state-owned ports handled 8.8 million 20-foot equivalents in the eight-month stretch, 8.2 percent more than the prior year.
The 12 IPA member ports are comprised of Kolkata; Chennai; Paradip; Visakhapatnam; V.O. Chidambaranar; Cochin; New Mangalore; Mormugao; Mumbai; Jawaharlal Nehru; Deendayal; and Kamarajar.
India’s ocean freight ecosystem wouldn’t have entirely been brought to a standstill if a strike occurred. There are several private container terminals at the state-owned ports that employ private workers.
Additionally, the country’s largest container-handling port, Mundra Port, is privately held. That port would have remained open.
Dockworkers had gotten so frustrated in waiting on deal’s implementation that they had established a Dec. 15 deadline to meet their contract concerns or they would go on strike. That work stoppage would have cost Indian exporters nearly $15 million daily, according to The Hindu Business Line.
In the lead up to the deadline, hundreds of workers staged protests in support of the unions’ demands of Dec. 5.
A report from India Seatrade News ahead of the agreement said the unions had accused India’s ports and shipping ministry of having a “lethargic attitude” toward the contract and the workers. The wage negotiation committee organized by the ministry had met just seven times in between the prior contract’s expiration date on Dec. 31, 2021 and the new agreement in August.
Despite the criticism of the federations, the ministry has its site set on escalating India’s global standing as a maritime power by the beginning of the next decade.
“From enhanced port operations and logistics to mega-infrastructure development, India is earning global recognition as it aims to become a major maritime nation by 2030,” said India’s shipping minister Sarbananda Sonowal at the Indian Maritime Heritage Conclave in New Delhi on Thursday.
The country is in the middle of several massive port expansion and construction projects set for 2023 completion targets. Prime Minister Modi laid the foundation for the $9 billion Vadhvan Port in September, while privately held Adani Ports just completed the first phase of the Vizhinjam Port, which started its trial run in July.
