Owners of Trailers go on Strike Demanding Tariff Revision
Owners of trailers carrying containers to Chennai Port, Kattupalli Port and Kamarajar Port went on strike on Monday demanding an 80% hike in hire charges. S.R. Raja of the Trailer Owners Association said although diesel prices had doubled since 2014 and spare parts and maintenance had become costlier, they were still being paid old rates. “It has been eight years now, hence we want an 80% increase in hire charges,” he said. A port user claimed that an increase of ₹1,000 per trip was affected in 2019 but the owners were not mentioning it. Although a section of trailer owners tried to operate, it was prevented from doing so, he added that “bringing all exit operations to a standstill was not right.”
Concerns Arise as Possible Disruption Threatens Linked to USWC Contract Expiration
In a letter sent on Thursday to Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), 21 congressional Democrats, led by Rep. Linda Sánchez of California, urged the two sides to “stay committed to the collective bargaining process and work in good faith to reach an agreement.” The current contract between the PMA, negotiating on behalf of container terminal operators at 30 West Coast ports, and the ILWU, which represents 22,000 dockworkers at those ports, expired on Friday July 1st. The National Retail federation has sent a letter to President Joe Biden asking for an extended deadline. This letter was co-signed by 150 other trade associations to prevent strikes, lockdowns, and grievance procedures that allows adjudicators to issue immediate judgments on disputes. Both the PMA and ILWU promised President Joe Biden on June 14th they would avoid shutdowns at the West Coast ports. Still with the constant rise of coastwide issues it remains unclear what proceedings labor unions will take moving forward.
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