The Chittagong Port Workers’ Federation has alleged that since the Chittagong Port is a profitable institution local and foreign mafias are conspiring to loot the Chittagong Port through conspiracies. The leaders of the organization have also alleged that there is a conspiracy to hand over various facilities of the port to local and foreign mafias. The sovereignty of the country and the security of the port are involved in this conspiracy. Therefore, they have called on the countrymen to protect the port from all conspiracies.

The leaders of the organization made these statements at a press conference at the Chittagong Press Club at 11:30 am on Saturday to implement various demands, including the cancellation of the privatization of the Chittagong Port. The organization’s general secretary, Kazi Sheikh Nurullah Bahar, presented their complaints and demands at the press conference. He warned that strict programs will be imposed if the management of the Chittagong Port is given to foreigners. At the same time, he called for the port to withdraw from the privatization process.

It was presided over by the president of the Chittagong Port United Workers Federation Md. Harun. Taslim Uddin Selim read out a written statement protesting the cancellation of the contract of the Patenga Container Terminal of Chittagong Port and the privatization of any part of the port, including NCT-CCT. He said, we will give a memorandum to the port chairman on December 22 to protect Chittagong Port. If our demands are not accepted by then, we will give a strict program.

Chittagong Divisional Worker’s Party President AM Nazim Uddin was the chief guest. In his written statement Taslim Uddin said, during the dictatorship and fascist government, a conspiracy was hatched to hand over various important institutions of the country, including Chittagong Port, to foreigners. Even now, the friends of fascism are conspiring with various tactics regarding Chittagong Port.

The leaders said that the institutions built with the port’s own funds have been left to the private sector. Private establishments are able to make a profit. So, despite the port’s capacity, why is the port reluctant to use its own manpower to generate revenue and accelerate it? Which is incomprehensible to us. We request that no new contracts be made with the private institutions with which the contracts are about to expire.

The speakers alleged that the fallen dictator Hasina and her advisor Salman F. Rahman had hatched a plan to hand over this port to domestic and foreign companies to exploit Chittagong Port for their own interests. Currently, the interim government is also walking the same path.

The demands raised in the press conference are that the recruitment process for the 4,500 vacant posts of the port should be started in a short time. We demand that the outsourcing method of recruitment should be stopped. All workers and employees included in the labor branch should be given 60 duty gratuity equivalent to two months and one thousand taka should be deducted from the provident fund every month. According to the MU agreement, all workers and employees should be given their own identity cards of the port. Gratuity should be determined according to the rank of crane operators. All stevedore staff should be included in the labor branch. Booking of lacing workers should be done on a three-shift basis in NCT CCT and wages should be determined based on productivity.