Seamen body threatens stir from Dec 5

Over 10,000 seamen and officers of the Forward Seamen Union of India (FSUI) have decided to observe a token strike on Friday to protest the "apathy shown by government" to recoup the Rs 100 crore loss suffered by the Seamen Provident Fund (SPF) in 2002.

They also cautioned to launch an indefinite strike from December 5 in the absence of any action from the government on the same .

The Mumbai High Court today adjourned the hearing of the writ petition filed by the Indian National Shipowners' Association (INSA) against the proposed strike till Thursday.

Majority of the seamen and officers of the shipping industry would take part in the token strike, said FSUI Secretary Naresh Birwadkar.

International Transport Federation (ITF) and several international seamen union would also take part in the proposed strike on November 25, he added.

According to FSUI General Secretary Sadhan Kanjilal, the strike is mainly to urge the government to take necessary action to recoup the Rs 100 crore lost in the SPF scam.

"The strike also aims to increase the interest rate of seamen provident fund from 5.5 per cent to 9.5 per cent. We have already appealed the members of

Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to take up the matter with government ," Kanjilal said.