Indian Port Strike Averted After Last-minute Wage Deal Reached

Nearly 20,000 workers across major Indian ports, who had threatened to go on an indefinite strike from Wednesday, called off their walkout late on Tuesday, after agreeing to a new five-year deal.

The agreement averted further issues in an already-strained global supply chain, which is struggling with higher freight costs and congestion at major Asian and European ports.

The workers' unions agreed to an 8.5% pay increase over a period of five years, according to a document signed by union leaders, and reviewed by Reuters, after initially demanding a raise in the region of 10.6%.

The shipping ministry formed a bipartite wage negotiation committee in March 2021, and the workers submitted their demands six months later, ahead of the expiration of the previous settlement in December of that year, according to another note seen by Reuters.

The committee and India's apex port body reached an agreement with the workers' unions, which had been in "prolonged discussions" seeking a settlement of pay revisions and pension benefits, in the country's capital, New Delhi.

"Considering the ... understanding, the six federations agreed to defer the proposed strike," the document signed by the union leaders showed.

The workers' group had earlier agreed to call for a strike after a meeting in Thoothukudi, a port city in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

Ports such as Chennai, Cochin and Mumbai have a combined cargo handling capacity of 1.62 billion metric tons annually, with India ranked among the biggest exporters globally.

(Reuters - Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam; editing by Mayank Bhardwaj and Ros Russell)