Jun.28--Labor federations have deferred the strike until July 9

Labor federations representing dockworkers at the APM Terminals Mumbai in India’s Port of Nhava Sheva (Jawaharlal Nehru) have postponed an indefinite strike planned to start at midnight until July 9.

The decision came after local trade union and political leaders met Wednesday to co-ordinate strategy for the industrial action.

“We will issue a fresh strike notice today,” a labor representative said.

The strike threat follows a four-day shutdown campaign dockworkers launched in March over delays in settling compensation packages for the “project-affected persons”. According to industry estimates, the stoppage cost the port authority over $30 million in lost business.

APMT Mumbai is Nehru’s largest container facility with an annual capacity of 2.25 million 20-foot equivalent units.

Nehru operates three box terminals, including a state-owned facility and a private facility operated by DP World, which cumulatively account for almost 65 percent of India’s total containerized export and import cargo movements. Throughput for fiscal 2011-12, which ended March 31, totaled a record 4.32 million 20-foot-equivalent units.

To cope with projected growth in traffic, the port authority has embarked on a series of capacity expansion projects that include development of a fourth box terminal and dredging to accommodate deep draft ships.

(Source:JOC)