Strike ends at Port of Cochin

Unionized workers at India's Port of Cochin called off their strike, following an agreement between port management and the trade unions.
Workers walked off the job Thursday at the southeast Indian hub to protest the implementation of a new manning scale rule that called for a cut in the workforce handling vessel operations and equipment.
Reports said the settlement came after the port authority agreed to hire additional manpower for such operations.
Officials said striking workers returned to work on Thursday night, and normal operations were restored.
Frequent labor unrest has damaged Cochin's traffic growth in recent years, with throughput in fiscal 2008-09 dropping to 15.23 million tons from 15.75 million tons the previous year.
Cargo volume in the April-May period, the first two months of fiscal 2009-10, declined 15 percent to 2.2 million tons from 2.6 million tons.
Meanwhile, carriers in the local Container Shipping Lines' Association urged the Tariff Authority for Major Ports to reject an application by Cochin to increase its current tariff scale as part of a general tariff revision.