The strike will further worsen the port congestions prevailing at Asian and European ports, further escalating the delays in movement of trade. In March 2021, the Shipping Ministry had formed a bipartite wage negotiation committee and the port workers had put forward their demand in September 2021, much before the expiry of the previous agreement in December of that year.
Although the wage negotiation committee had seven meetings, but a consensus on the port workers’ demands could not be reached. The workers’ group agreed to call for a strike after a meeting in August. Around 20,000 workers are part of the group of port workers’ unions, and all of them would join the strike, said Sathya Narayanan, a senior union member who sits on the board of the V. O. Chidambaranar Port Trust in Thoothukudi. The immediate impact of the strike might not be grave, but if it goes on for more than two to three days, the ramifications would be severe, he said.
