Indian dockworkers threaten strike

Indian dockworkers threaten strike    Dockworkers from India’s five major longshoreman unions have given notice of their intent to strike from Jan. 4 over wage demands, the Exim News Service reported Tuesday.
   The strike, if carried out, would affect the 12 major ports under the jurisdiction of the national government, including Nhava Sheva and Chennai, India’s two biggest container ports.
   The five longshoreman union federations voted on the action Tuesday in New Delhi and also planned protests and demonstrations for Dec. 22. The report did not indicate what wage increases the unions are seeking.
   Though India’s GDP is set to grow roughly 7 percent in the current fiscal year (April through March), nationwide container volume saw an 11 percent drop in container volume for the year ending March 2009. It fell a further 6 percent in the first half of the current fiscal year (April through October).