Port workers avert planned strikes with wage agreement

By Rajesh Kumar Singh and Weilun Soon

Port workers’ unions in India agreed to a new five-year wage deal with government officials, averting a planned nationwide strike scheduled for Wednesday.

The new deal halts a walkout that could have involved nearly 20,000 workers and brought widespread disruption to cargo-handling operations at some of the nation’s busiest ports.

Unions at India’s 12 major state-run ports have been negotiating with the government since 2021 to try to increase pay.

Under the newly agreed terms, unions accepted an 8.5 per cent wage increase over five years, backdated to January 1, 2022, said Narendra Rao, a working committee member of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions.