BPCL trade unions to go on 5-day all-India strike in Nov to oppose wage cut, privatisation

• Praveenkumar P, General Secretary of Cochin Refineries Employees Association (INTUC), said that the five-day strike will start on November 2 and go on till November 6

• He added that the strike notices will be served by unions by September 28

New Delhi: A day after the management of disinvestment-bound Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) imposed wage deduction on the employees who took part in September 7 and 8 strike, the trade unions have declared their intention to go on a nationwide five-day strike in November. Speaking to PSU Watch, Praveenkumar P, General Secretary of Cochin Refineries Employees Association (INTUC), said that at a meeting held late on Friday evening, the trade unions have decided to go on five-day-long all-India strike from November 2 to 6. 

Also read: BPCL imposes 8-day wage cut on employees who took part in Sept 7 & 8 strike

"Strike notice will be served by refinery unions by tomorrow and by marketing unions on Monday," said Kumar. He added that the trade unions will demand wage settlement in accordance with the 3rd Pay Revision Committee (PRC) report and the guidelines laid down by the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) and will oppose the penal wage deduction of eight days and the privatisation of BPCL.

The backdrop

The trade unions have claimed that the long term settlement (LTS) offered by the management is an "eyewash" as it makes provision for the new owner to revoke or modify any benefit promised to the unions in the document, which effectively nullifies the agreement. Alleging that the BPCL management is deviating from DPE guidelines to the workers and thereby, reducing benefits, the trade unions went on a two-day nationwide strike on September 7 and 8 to protest against the issue. However, the strike prompted the management to impose penal deduction of six days and additional deduction of two days' wages on the basis of 'No work-No pay' on employees who took part in the strike. Explaining the rationale behind the decision, the BPCL management said, "The impact of strike cannot be limited only to operational or financial loss. With the workmen involved in regular operations being absent from work, the normal operations were impacted in a significant manner." 

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