A hunger strike at Gateway Terminals India (GTI) Mumbai that lasted for 17 days has come to an end after management of port operator APM Terminals (APMT) agreed to address union demands over a group of operations and maintenance staff, ITF said in its press release.
Following a summit between management and the union, APMT India has now agreed to put out a fresh tender for the sub-contractor employing operations and maintenance staff, to start creating opportunities for the operations and maintenance staff to become permanent employees and to change any contracts that exploit workers. They are also intending to start a recruitment process for 24 new gate checkers in line with a request from the union.
Union president Mahendra Gharat said: “We want to thank the ITF and our brothers and sisters around the world who have supported us in this dispute and given us the power to fight back during this long crisis. When the terminal doors were closed to workers, operations stopped and vessels diverted away from Mumbai, those were extremely difficult times for us. But global solidarity means that now there is a way forward for operations and maintenance staff to become permanent employees and there is ongoing dialogue between the union and management at the port.”