An indefinite strike by more than half of the workers at Kenya’s main port of Mombasa on Thursday has paralysed dockside work at east African region’s main trade gateway, union and management officials said.The port, the biggest in the region, handles imports such as fuel for Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia.The union said 3,500 workers, most of whom are loaders, and had worked at the port for between 15 and 20 years on casual and contractual basis, went on strike demanding permanent jobs.“The most affected area is the operations section which deals with cranes and ships, and that is our core area,” said Bernard Osero, the port corporate affairs manager.The port employs about 6,000 workers in Mombasa, he said. The workers, in aprons and reflective jackets, camped outside the port head offices in Mombasa, chanting slogans and waved banners, while import-loaded cargo ships waited.Simon Sang, secretary general of the dock workers union said the management had agreed earlier this year to employ the casual workers by October 31 but this had not yet happened, prompting the industrial action.The union leaders and port management said loading and unloading at the port were at a total standstill.“We don’t want any more meetings and negotiations because we already did that, what we want are the (employment) letters, otherwise we will not go back to work,” Sang told reporters.Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) Managing Director Gichiri Ndua arrived from a trip to the capital Nairobi and went straight into a meeting with leaders of the striking workers.The port handled 10.7 million tonnes of cargo over the first-half of this year, up 24 percent from 2011. The traffic is usually an indicator of economic activity in the region.
