India port workers avert planned strikes with wage agreement

Port workers’ unions in India agreed to a new five-year wage deal with government officials, averting a planned nationwide strike scheduled for Wednesday.

The new deal halts a walkout that could have involved nearly 20,000 workers and brought widespread disruption to cargo-handling operations at some of the nation’s busiest ports. Unions at India’s 12 major state-run ports have been negotiating with the government since 2021 to try to increase pay.

Under the newly agreed terms, unions accepted an 8.5% wage increase over five years, back-dated to Jan. 1, 2022, said Narendra Rao, a working committee member of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions.