Massive strike planned by 100,000 Indian oil workers

Friday, 12 December 2003, 20:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: An estimated 100,000 employees of state-owned oil companies in India are planning to strike work next Tuesday to protest the government's divestment plans. "All workers of state-owned oil companies will stay off work for 24 hours from 6 a.m. December 16 to protest the government proposal on (divestment in) profit-making companies," C.M. Singh, general secretary of the All India Petroleum Workmen Federation, told IANS. The oil companies include Indian Oil Corporation (IndianOil), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL). "Some officers of these companies will be joining the strike," Singh said. On December 2, the workers of oil companies had staged demonstrations to protest the government move for privatisation and announce plans for staying off work December 16. "We are protesting the move as not only are state-owned oil companies very profitable, but also because past experience in 1962, during the war with China, has shown that private or foreign companies like Burmah Shell, Esso and Caltex cannot be relied upon," said Singh. "This led to the government pushing for their nationalisation." With the Supreme Court having stalled divestment of stake in HPCL and BPCL by directing the government to seek parliament approval, Singh said, "The government is now trying to find another route for divesting stake in IndianOil. This move is contrary to the very purpose for which it was set up." The disinvestment ministry is currently studying a paper submitted by the petroleum ministry on the status of oil companies to formulate further plans. These would be finalised in consultation with the petroleum and finance ministries before seeking cabinet approval. The disinvestment of stake in oil companies is integral to the government meeting its target to raise resources to bridge fiscal deficit. An IndianOil union spokesperson stated that it is still not certain whether company officials would join the strike "but all the 24,000 workers of the company will not be attending work on December 16". In case company officials do not join the strike, the refineries of the state-owned companies would be operating as usual. Consumers too would not face any problems as petrol pumps will have adequate supplies for well over 24 hours. "After the strike, we will analyse the response in all regions and by February end or March beginning formulate our next plan of action at a meeting in Chennai," Singh disclosed.
Source: IANS