<p><em>By Rajesh Kumar Singh and Weilun Soon</em></p><p>Port workers’ unions in India agreed to a new five-year wage deal with government officials, averting a planned nationwide strike scheduled for Wednesday.</p><p>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. </p>.Port, dock workers' unions defer indefinite strike proposed from Wednesday.<p>Unions at India’s 12 major state-run ports have been negotiating with the government since 2021 to try to increase pay.</p><p>Under the newly agreed terms, unions accepted an 8.5 per cent wage increase over five years, backdated to January 1, 2022, said Narendra Rao, a working committee member of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions. </p>
<p><em>By Rajesh Kumar Singh and Weilun Soon</em></p><p>Port workers’ unions in India agreed to a new five-year wage deal with government officials, averting a planned nationwide strike scheduled for Wednesday.</p><p>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. </p>.Port, dock workers' unions defer indefinite strike proposed from Wednesday.<p>Unions at India’s 12 major state-run ports have been negotiating with the government since 2021 to try to increase pay.</p><p>Under the newly agreed terms, unions accepted an 8.5 per cent wage increase over five years, backdated to January 1, 2022, said Narendra Rao, a working committee member of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions. </p>