Cargo vessel owners withdraw strike

Cargo vessel owners today called off their strike following the government’s assurance of a fresh wage structure for the workers in the sector.

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“We have called off our strike as the shipping minister has given an assurance us of forming a fresh and logical wage structure for the workers,” Khorshed Alam, senior vice president of Bangladesh Cargo Vessel Owners Association (BCVOA), told The Daily Star’s Chittagong correspondent.

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A committee with the help of the labour directorate would be formed to make the effort a success, Alam said quoting Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan.

Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan chairs a meeting with the cargo vessel owners at his office in Dhaka on May 2, 2016. Photo grabbed from TV

The minister chaired the meeting held at his office in Dhaka this afternoon.

On April 26, cargo vessel owners suspended all vessel operation after the shipping minister requested them to hike workers' pay to 135 percent.

But, the cargo owners said that it was difficult for them to pay 135 percent hike.

Earlier from April 20, water transport workers began strike demanding hike of wages.