KOCHI: The Cochin Port is on the verge of another strike with two major trade unions, the Cochin Port Staff Association (CPSA) and the Cochin Port Employees’ Organisation (CPEO), raising protest against the decision of the management to freeze some of the benefits that the employees were enjoying. The trade union leaders are of the opinion that employees cannot bear the brunt of financial crisis for which they are not responsible. They also allege that the port management had not considered the solutions put forward by the unions to tackle the financial crisis.The net loss of the Cochin Port is likely to touch `262 crore by March 2012, compared to the loss of `86 crore, reported last year. The loss this year is mainly attributed by the cost of capital dredging to achieve a depth of 14.5-meters.What invited the wrath of trade unions, is the decision of the port management to freeze all benefits as part of the austerity measure. As per the decision, there will not be any overtime job. There will be no incentives for the next two years, no loans would be given for homes, vehicle and computer. Similarly, benefits such as Leave Transfer Allowance and festival advance and uniform allowance will not be provided. Leave will not be granted without a certificate from the doctors of the port trust. Honorarium for pilots has also been curtailed. Also, there will be a control on the use of hired vehicles. Employees will have to pay to use hired vehicles for personal purposes.P M Mohammed Hanifa of the CPSA said that the port trust should taken the initiative to collect crores of rupees entitled to the port from different companies including the BPCL-Kochi Refinery and Petronet LNG Limited. “The port did not land in trouble because of its employees,” he said.He also said that the port management should think of reducing huge amount for dredging activities. “The port management need to maintain a 14-metre depth only if there are calls by mother vessels. The DP World, which operates the international container transshipment terminal, has failed to attract mother vessels to Vallarpadam. Therefore, dredging for maintaining a 14-metre draft is a waste of money,” Hanifa said.“The security of the ICTT is the responsibility of the DP World. Now the port is meeting the expense for it. Expense for the security, which is approximately `25 lakh per month, should be exacted from the DP World,” he said.The CPEO secretary C D Nandakumar also shared the same view. “We have submitted a list of practical suggestions to bring down the expenditure. But it was not considered by the port management,” Nandakumar said. “We, the employees are ready to accept the austerity measures if the reasons are genuine. The decision to burden employees for a problem for which they are not responsible cannot be accepted,” he said.
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