KOZHIKODE: A meeting of the Labour Department officers and representatives of various trade unions at Beypore Port on Monday decided to offer `500 per container to each worker involved in the task and maintain the rate till the deputy labour commissioner comes out with a report in this regard. Regional Joint Labour Commissioner K M Sunil said the meeting decided to pay the workers `500 per container as of now and a final decision will be taken after the deputy labour commissioner submits the report within a month. “The unions have agreed to abide by the decision taken in the meeting and the operations of the port will resume with out any issues,” he said.
The functioning of the Beypore Port was severely hit for the last couple of months after the workers started protesting against the port authorities for not meeting their demand for a wage hike. There are 166 labourers affiliated to various trade unions engaged in the assorted work at the port.
The demand of `500 per container arriving at the port was seen unreasonable by the industry as Beypore Port had been paying the labourers `250 per container ‘handled’ for the past seven years. Though, a meeting convened by District Collector U V Jose decided to consider the demand of `500 per container, the port authorities objected to it saying the shipping agencies, which pay the workers, were not ready accept the rate as it was not feasible for them. The situation got worse when the workers pelted stones at a merchant vessel which called at the port to unload containers the other day.