Pakistan: Dockworkers at the newly built Fauji Akbar Portia Marine Terminals (FAP) at Port Qasim demanded more work and led protests that twice held up cargo handling operations on November 29.
Authorities called on the police to disperse the protesting dockworkers, at one time clearing the port area with a "harsh baton charge", according to local media reports.
Police have cordoned off the area and banned the dockworkers' entry into the port.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani inaugurated Fauji Akbar Portia Marine Terminals, Pakistan's first fully automated dry bulk cargo handling and storage terminal, on October 26.
The terminal is capable of handling 4.1 million metric tonnes of dry bulk cargo annually and can handle Panamax vessels up to 80,000 DWT.
Workers apparently do not have official channels to express their dissatisfaction with working conditions and do not have a Collective Bargaining Agent (CBA) to work on their behalf.
Source: Business Recorder
