The All India Port and Dock Workers’ Federation urged the government either to bring all ports including minor ports under the purview of Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP) or permit major ports to work independently by scrapping the authority.
SR Kulkarni, President of the federation pointed out that even though the handling charges are regulated by the TAMP, the minor ports do not fall under its purview.
Therefore, the labour charges, handling costs and service conditions of the workers of minor ports have remained abysmal, he said.
The president alleged that the government was encouraging monopoly by permitting major ports to execute license agreements with global terminal operators like DP World, APM and PSA and even with a single multinational operating two terminals in the same port.
Meanwhile, the federation asked Indian Ports Association, the apex body of Major Ports, to reach a wage settlement at the coming bipartite meeting at Vizag in the first week of December. Kulkarni said that it will be forced to call a strike if the issue is not resolved.
Despite the “excellent performance†of the port and dock workers of Major Ports, the port authorities have been outsourcing jobs. The manpower at these ports has declined by 60 per cent since 1993, he added.
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