The National Working Committee meeting of the Water Transport Workers’ Federation of India, representing trade unions at all 12 major ports in the country, decided to join the May 20 national strike against the proposed implementation of the four labour codes, “which will take away all the basic rights of the Indian working class.”
A communication from C.D. Nandakumar, president, and T. Narendra Rao, general secretary of the Federation, said here after a two-day meeting of the working committee that a resolution was passed at the top-level meeting urging the government to withdraw its decision to amend the Major Port Authorities Act, 2021 through its (Amendment) Bill, 2025. The amendment empowers Port Authority Boards to make regulations on suspension, reduction in ranks, compulsory retirement, removal and dismissal from service, pensions and gratuities, and other establishment-related matters concerning labour.
In another resolution, the Federation said that the Indian Ports Bill, 2025, introduced to replace the Indian Ports Act of 1908, has raised significant concerns regarding its impact on the Indian federal structure. While the Bill claims to aim at modernising port governance, several provisions centralise powers that traditionally resided with State governments.
The Federation also said that the government aims to divest public ownership by handing over ready-built, valuable assets and facilities, such as cargo-handling terminals, to transnational corporates under the National Assets Monetisation projects.
The situation, it said, has created an unbalanced condition, giving private operators the upper hand in Indian major ports. The control of the vast Indian coast, spread over 7,517 kilometres across nine coastal States, is gradually being crippled by private operators. This is not only detrimental to the economic interests of the nation but may also pose severe threats to national security, as ports are described as the second line of defence, the Federation added.