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Strike stymies work at Mumbai Port

The strike also affected the banking and insurance sector in the city as customers claimed that cheque-clearance was hindered. The contract employees of national carrier Air India also participated in the strike, partially affecting cargo loading and de-loading work.

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CPM and CITU members protesting against government on the rail track at Andheri railway station in Mumbai
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Operations at Mumbai Port were paralysed as workers participated in the nationwide one-day strike of public sector companies on Wednesday. However, the two cargo terminals which are run by private operators at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), remained active.

The strike also affected the banking and insurance sector in the city as customers claimed that cheque-clearance was hindered. The contract employees of national carrier Air India also participated in the strike, partially affecting cargo loading and de-loading work.

In terms of volume, Mumbai Port caters to 10% of the country's sea-borne trade handled by all the major ports of the country. Mumbai Port has long been the principal gateway to India and has played a pivotal role in the development of the national economy, trade and commerce in general and prosperity of the city in particular. During the 2014-15 fiscal, the port handled around 61,660 tonnes of goods.

A spokesperson for All India Port & Dock Workers' Federation, which is a dominant union catering to workers at 12 major ports in the country, stated that the strike was successful and will make the PM Narendra Modi government do a rethink on their strategies as far as labourers are concerned. "No ship movement or operations happened at Mumbai Port because of the strike," said RM Murthy, spokesperson for the union.

SR Kulkarni, president of All India Port & Dock Workers' Federation, said that their protest is against the anti-labour policies of the central government which is codifying the different labour laws that protect the workers from exploitation and abuse. He also criticised the government move to privatise major ports without taking workers into consideration. There are 12 major ports in the country.

"Both NSICT-DP World and GTI-APM Terminals are functioning normally and the liquid terminal is also unaffected. For the container terminal operated by us, we prepared a contingency plan and offloaded all the cargo in advance itself," said JNPT chairman Neeraj Bansal.

"Almost all public sector banks except for SBI were affected," said Vishwas Udgi, VP, All India Bank Employees' Association.

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