Port workers across the country including those at the Kochi Port will launch an indefinite strike from midnight today if negotiations on a new wage settlement in New Delhi fails.   A  spokesman for Kochi Thuramugha Samrakshana Samithi, a combine of trade unions to protect the interests of Kochi Port, said  that Indian Ports Association officials and labour union representatives would attend the meeting in Delhi with the Central Labour Commissioner. The validity of the current labour agreement ended in December 2006.

The port unions had, in time, submitted their demands.However, 26 rounds of discussions since then between the port managements and the five federations of port workers had failed to yield any result. The labour union spokesman however alleged that though the talks had appeared to reach the conclusion, the port managements refused to grant the retrospective effect of the new wage settlement. Besides, the port managements also wanted to take away some of the existing benefits of the port workers. It was in this background that a strike notice was issued. A meeting in Delhi on Friday too had failed to yield any result. Representatives of various trade unions met here on Saturday and decided to launch the strike from the first shift of Tuesday.