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CPA control over dockworkers irks port users

Abdullah Al Mahmud, Ctg
A plan to put dockworkers under the control of Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) has triggered resentment among port users and worker organisations.
The leaders of 10 worker organisations under the Dock Bandar Sramik Karmachari Federation reached a consensus at a meeting with the shipping minister and the state minister for labour in Dhaka on October 26.
As pan of the plan, CPA will appoint, control and give workers bookings in rotation through CPA's own booking centre to be formed in line with the dissolved Dock Workers Management Board (DWMB).
The board was dissolved after the January 11,2007 changeover, and workers were put under the control of berth operators as part of a reform plan.
With a new government coming to power, worker organisations, backed by both the ruling party and the opposition, began a state of agitation, demanding a revival of the board and reinstatement of the workers who lost theirjobs.
But the Port Users Forum, an association of 12 organisations, has criticised the shipping minister for holding meetings with workers by ignoring all others and taking a 'unilateral' decision on worker management.
Port users urged the prime minister to intervene, as they fear it will create scope for workers appointed by CPA to frequently keep the port under siege, as they did before.
They also said they did not have any enmity with the workers. They complained that the minister held meetings only with the workers' organisations in
Dhaka and during his visits to Chittagong. At a meeting on Saturday, they called for an opportunity to have a voice in port management.
Port Users Forum Chairman and Chittagong Chamber President MA Latif MP presided over the meeting where BGMEA 1st Vice-President Nasir Uddin Chowdhury, Chamber Senior Vice-president MA Salam, Bangladesh Steamer Agents Association (BSAA) Chairman Ahsanul Haq Chowdhury, C&F Association Chairman AKM Akter Hossain and BMSA Senior Vice-chairman Sarwar Hossain Sagor were also present.
"The understanding was that a committee formed by CPA will submit a report after examining the cases of sacked dockworkers, stevedoring staff, merchant and hedge workers," said Golam Mohammad Chowdhury, presi-
dent of Dock Bandar Sramik Karmachari Federation, after the October 26 meeting between worker leaders and the labour ministry.
Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan was present at the meeting, which was chaired by State Minister for Labour and Employment Begum Munnujan Sufian.
"An arrangement will be made to appoint the physically fit workers and staff gradually."
"The proposed booking centre will be on the CPA land and controlled by CPA," he said. An understanding was reached on opening a dormitory and a hospital and reintroducing welfare facilities for workers, he added.
But Fazley Ekram Chowdhury, convener of Shore-handling and Berth Operators Association, said: "The understanding cannot be accepted as it was reached with the workers and
employees, in the absence of employers.”
"If we are forced to engage an unnecessary number of workers and staffers, as in the past, we will have to stop work and leave the port," he said.
BSAA Chairman Ahsanul Haq Chowdhury said: "I think putting the workers and staff under CPA means going back to the past."
"During reforms, the size of a group was determined by considering the actual number of workers for any number of workers. There was a control over workers under berth operators," he said.
"But control may be lost if they are put under CPA again," the BSAA chairmanobserved.
"I think decisions in this regard can be taken after discussions with all concerned and port users," he said, also a co-chairman of Port Users Forum.