Work on a cement ship at Karachi Port came to a halt on Thursday after labourers from Karachi Docks Labour Board (KDLB) and staffers of a stevedoring firm clashed on a dispute over the issue of detention.
Enraged dockers manhandled two foremen, Zafar and Bhayya from Friends Corporation Limited, when the latter engaged in a hot verbal conflict with the former demanding detention. Detention is a kind of cash penalty that is paid by the stevedoring companies to the dockers if the work is suspended for whatsoever reasons during the working hours.
Dozens of enraged labourers beat up the two FCL staffers to an extent that one of the victims has reported to have several of his teeth broken. According to an official from Collective Bargaining Agent (CBA) of KDLB the clash was deliberately fanned by KDLB official Mohammad Safdar and Stevedoring Conference President Sabir Hussain, who had on Wednesday formulated and issued an ill-defined circular.
It may be recalled that stevedoring firms and dockers are recently in talks to revise the "Incentive Norms" formula according to which the dockers would have their normal period reduced by at least 25 percent on the cement ships.
But, the CBA official said the two officials had issued a circular stating that no detention would be there on trucks. He said they should have clearly stated that no illegitimate detention would be demanded by the labourers instead of mentioning a certain condition. According to port sources the dispute was likely to affect work on the said ship at night.