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Countless Indian port workers to go on strike, might delay deliveries

Nearly 20,000 workers across significant Indian ports are most likely to go on a strike from Wednesday to require immediate settlement of pay revisions and pension advantages, union workers stated on Tuesday.

The strike could postpone shipments and back up freights at numerous ports, rising freight costs and exacerbating the existing blockage at other Asian and European ports.

The negotiations are in a deadlock, as the labour federations are demanding wage raises in the region of 10.6%,. while the federal government is stuck at 6%, Sathya Narayanan, a senior. union member stated.

The union employees fulfilled Sarbananda Sonowal, India's federal. delivering minister, on Tuesday.

The shipping ministry formed a bipartite wage settlement. committee in March 2021, and the workers sent their demands. 6 months later, ahead of the expiration of the previous. agreement in December of that year, according to a note signed. by union leaders, and evaluated .

Although the wage settlement committee fulfilled seven times, it. failed to meet the port workers' demands, the note said.

The workers' group consented to call for a strike after a. conference this month in Thoothukudi, a port city in the southern. state of Tamil Nadu.

Ports such as Chennai, Cochin and Mumbai, with an integrated. freight handling capacity of 1.62 billion metric tons each year,. are anticipated to be struck by the strike.

The port strike is proposed in a very tough time. where exporters are presently struggling to satisfy shipping. schedules for Christmas season said K. Unnikrishnan, joint. director general of Federation of Indian Export Organisations.

(source: Reuters)