The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Cargo boxes pile up as container terminal workers' strike continues

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 28, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Cargo boxes pile up as container terminal workers' strike continues

By N. Ravi Kumar

A view of the piled-up containers and line of trailers at Chennai port on Thursday. — — Photo: Vino John

CHENNAI, MAY 27. Export-import cargo boxes, some containing perishable commodities, continued to pile-up at the privatised container terminal of Chennai port today, as the non-management workers of the facility stayed away from work for the fourth day.

While sources among the protesting workers said perishable goods worth several crores of rupees were decaying, those in the shipping industry said the impact of the situation at the terminal was going to be severe.

According to them, there were indications of the feeder vessel operators, shipping containers from and to Chennai, Colombo, Singapore and Port Klang in Malaysia imposing a congestion surcharge of $ 50 per container from Monday. Sources in Chennai Port Trust said many companies using imported component in their production, including a car manufacturing unit near Chennai, complained of low inventory.

Apart from the non-management workers of Chennai Container Terminal Limited, the private operator of the facility, who began their protest on Sunday night, several trailer operators declared strike on Wednesday. The vehicles have stopped operating for import deliveries and the despatch of export-cargo laden boxes has also come under strain. The trailers operators want measures to reduce the turnaround time of the vehicles.

The yard inventory this morning was 7,186 twenty-foot equivalent containers meant for imports and 3,132 TEUs that were shipped to Chennai. The company said 117 import containers were delivered and 91 meant for export were offloaded. Efforts by the operator to move the import containers to off dock container freight station - to decongest the yard - that commenced on Wednesday were halted because of the trailer strike.

Though a CCTL communication to industry and trade bodies today said, "quite a few of our non-management staff have been expressing their desire to resume work and are trickling in," a leader of the workers disputed this. The workers are seeking better working conditions and reinstatement of four suspended employees. A meeting of port users and the top brass of CCTL, convened by the Chennai Port Trust, remained inconclusive and was expected to continue on Friday. The conciliation talks between the CCTL management and the workers before the Regional Labour Commissioner continued till late in the evening.

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