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Court calls for three-month period to address labor issues
(Photo from im.rediff: The Port of Cochin is located on the south west coast of India)
Cochin Port,India -The Journal of Commerce Online, by Thomas L. Gallagher -Feb 10, 2011: -- Dockworkers called off their strike at India's Port of Cochin Feb. 9 after the Kerala High Court on Wednesday directed the state and the port to retain operations at the Rajiv Gandhi Container Terminal for three months... The High Court said they will look into the issues raised by the unions and direct the central and state governments to form a committee to study the issues and find a solution as early as possible... The RGCT will continue to handle coastal operations for three months, and DP World is free to start export/import cargo operations in Vallarpadam as scheduled or continue the entire operation in RGCT... Workers were demanding job protection as the port authority planned to shift all container operations to a new DP World-developed terminal in nearby Vallarpadam... * France - Dockworkers Suspend Strikes
(Photo: Le Havre Port,France)
Marseille,France -The Journal of Commerce Online, by Bruce Barnard -Feb 10, 2011: ... French dockworkers Feb. 10 suspended a six-week-long campaign of strikes after port employers agreed to resume negotiations on union demands for early retirement... The CGT, the largest dockworker union, said it will hold three days of talks with employers starting Tuesday, Feb. 15... The union warned it would consider resuming strikes on Feb. 18 if the negotiations do not make progress... The CGT began the latest industrial action with a nationwide strike on Jan. 12 followed by four successive four-day stoppages over the past month that have cut cargo throughput by an estimated 40 percent... The government, which is the sole shareholder in the nation's seven largest ports, including Marseille and Le Havre, insists dockworkers can only retire two years before the national pension age which was recently raised to 62 from 60...* Australia - Strike suspended as MUA and Patrick set to return to negotiating table
(Pictured: Webb Dock, which ought to be redeveloped by 2014 says SAL)
Melbourne,Australia -Transport and Logistics News -10 Feb 2011: -- After previously flatly rejecting safety concerns raised by the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), the union says Patrick Stevedores has agreed to return to the negotiating table... MUA members at Webb Dock voted to return to work after management committed to put an offer in writing to the union before the end of this week... MUA national secretary Paddy Crumlin said Patrick's backflip followed Fair Work Australia's finding that the union has been genuinely trying to reach agreement...
