It’s a tall order in a culture that stops work for statutory holidays, and in which workers have a tendency to arrive for shifts late and leave early.
But the need for action is perceived as urgent, with ship turnaround times ranging from two to five days, and imported dry bulk cargoes sitting on quaysides for up to 38 days.
Indian port officials acknowledge that shift changeovers currently cost as much as three hours in lost productivity every day. They agree that the time could be cut to just 30 minutes, which would save 12 hours for a bulk carrier.
And they acknowledge that there are opportunities to improve labour productivity in the gang-based system, said to be overmanned. A port official, who wished to remain anonymous, says: “Enforcement of discipline within the unionised workforce is difficult,and a poor work ethic, such as the tendency to report late and break early lowers productivity of the individual and well as the gang’s productivity in the shift.”
Nevertheless, employees aren’t against the move to round-the-clock working all year round; they recognise they’ll have to take it on board to complete internationally, according to a leading trade unionist. Mohammed Haneef,general secretary of the All India Port and Dock Workers Federation, wants them to enter into a ‘something-for- something’ arrangement.“If India has to compete internationally, then roundthe- clock working of ports is essential – provided facilities are given to the workers. The management of ports should also share the gains arising from the new arrangement with the workers.” Implementation of a ‘hot seat’ exchange system, as ordered by the country’s Ministry of Shipping might get rid of losses due to shift changes, but there are a host of other areas that will need radical operational changes too.
There is no co-ordination of effort around activities such as health clearance, quarantine, customs and independent sample collection, and much of the work is done on an ‘office hours’ basis. Customs, for example, works for only five days a week, from 0915 hrs to 1745 hrs, and duties can be paid on only five and a half days a week. An out of hours skeleton staffing arrangement is proposed.
Mr Haneef clearly has a lot on his plate if the 63,000 direct employees and 30,000 contractors are going to make the serious assault on delays demanded by the government. He’s going to start with union meetings at a national level to reach a consensus before allowing any changes to the existing system.
