Port, dock workers to hold protest on July 14

Mumbai, Jul 11: The port and dock workers will stage a demonstration on July 14 in protest against the national tribunal's recommendation for substantial reduction in the manning scale of all categories of port and dock workers and abolition of gang system.

An All India Port and Dock Workers' Federation release here yesterday stated that the demonstration would be held in front of the administrative offices of the Mumbai Port Trust (MPT) and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT).

The release quoted the Federation's president S R Kulkarni as saying that the demonstration would be the first step in the nationwide agitation against the ''anti-labour'' report.

The tribunal was appointed by the Central government in 2000, but it submitted its report to the Union Ministry of Labour on May 3 this year, the copy of which was received by the Federation on July 4, he alleged.

The Central government should keep the implementation of the tribunal's recommendations aside in the interest of the national economy, Mr Kulkarni urged and cautioned that if the recommendations were implemented, the work on all the major ports would come to a standstill, as the port and dock workers would not be able to carry on with their normal duties.

UNI