News / Shippers eye alternatives as Indian port workers prepare for 'indefinite' strike

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Indian shippers are braced for major supply chain disruption after dockworkers call for strikes at key ports, claiming the government is still falling short of commitments.  

The Loadstar previously reported that a consortium of labour groups in India told port authorities workers would stage indefinite work stoppages across ports from 17 December, in protest at the lack of action to address long-standing labour concerns.  

The unions today confirmed their promise of “an indefinite strike”, should the government fail to implement wage revisions and productivity schemes before 15 December. 

There are 12 government-controlled ports in India, but over the past decade privately owned ports, particularly in the container sector, have taken increasing amounts of market share – the Adani-owned port of Mundra has overtaken Nhava Sheva to become India’s busiest container gateway. Similarly, Chennai has ceded a significant portion of its southern Indian containerised trade to nearby Adani facilities at Kattupalli and Ennore.  

Co-founder and director of Kale logistics Vineet Malhotra told The Loadstar: “As it is expected that only government ports might strike, and the private ports would still operate, shippers would mitigate by moving their shipments through the private ports as an alternative approach for the short-term.” 

But Jitendra Srivastava, CEO of Triton Logistics & Maritime, warned that if many shippers shifted to private ports, this would lead to higher costs and delays in cargo handling and clearance. He advised shippers to explore alternative shipping routes and to consider air freight, particularly for perishables. 

Indeed, Mr Malhotra also advised: “In case of lighter cargo, shippers might end-up utilising the air freight mode.” 

He added: “The centre of all this will be technology enabled real-time monitoring, that will help shippers make quick adjustments.” 

A productivity linked reward scheme remains at the heart of the impasse at the ports and needs to be approved by the federal government retroactively to 2021. With no guidelines in place, interim retirees from the ports have lost out on benefits, unions claim.   

“The workers and pensioners are restless, and [they are] compelled to go on industrial action against the non-implementation of statutory settlements,” the labour groups said.  

According to IPA sources, the ministry of shipping needed to issue an order approving wage revisions for port workers, which “has been delayed”, one official told The Loadstar last month.  

Funding to cover additional overheads by the government ports, amid growing market share challenges from the private port sector, could be a major reason pushing the decision back at government level, according to industry observers.   

Nonetheless, Mr Malhorta remained optimistic that negotiations during the 10-day countdown to a strike notice would ultimately prove productive.  

“Even though the strike on 17 December looks imminent, we expect the government to act by inviting them for talks and resolving the issues,” he told The Loadstar.