BPCL-HPCL unions to stage 3-day strike

Employees unions of HPCL and BPCL plan to stage a three-day nationwide strike to protest the disinvestment of the two profit making oil PSUs...

Employees unions of HPCL and BPCL plan to stage a three-day nationwide strike to protest the disinvestment of the two profit making oil PSUs.

‘‘We plan to go in for a three-day token nationwide strike in protest against the proposed disinvestment of HPCL and BPCL,’’ Ishwar Singh, general secretary of Hindustan Petroleum Employees Union said here on Wednesday. Union members were here to participate in the ‘march to parliament’ organised by Left trade unions to protest against the government’s ‘anti-people, anti-worker and anti-national’ economic policies.

He said the plan of action, including the date of strike, would be decided when all the 30 worker unions of HPCL and BPCL meet on Thursday.

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All the unions are unanimous against the proposed move of privatisation of HPCL and BPCL, he said and added that the unions were against disinvestment of profit making units, but not against privatising loss making units.

He raised doubts about the rationale behind putting BPCL and HPCL into the block which together posted Rs 1,940 crore profits in last fiscal and contributed nearly Rs 1,000 crore as dividend to the government.

President of unified Bengal oil and petrol workers Union Mohan Kumar said the workers are opposing the move of privatising profit making oil PSUs as government on several occasions had committed that profit making units would not be put on to the disinvestment block.