HCs restrain IOC, BPCL officials from striking

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 10: High Courts in Delhi and Mumbai on Monday restrained Indian Oil Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd of...

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 10: High Courts in Delhi and Mumbai on Monday restrained Indian Oil Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd officials from striking work on Wednesday even as the Central Government and the Oil Sector Officers Association (OSOA) held a day-long meeting to sort out wage-related issues raised by the OSOA.

The OSOA had called for an indefinite strike in the oil industry from Tuesday to demand grant of autonomy to PSU boards for revising wages from 1997. OSOA convenor Ashok Singh said closing down of certain units at various refineries and capping of oil producing wells had already started as part of the agitation.

The Centre and the OSOA representatives held talks for most part of the day but neither side was available for comments on the outcome of talks till late Monday evening. Even as the two HCs announced their ruling on the separate suits filed by IOC and BPCL, the Government in a statement said that the Delhi HC observed that the threatened strike by oil sector officers wasprima facie "illegal" and therefore the officers and workers of oil sector, especially the IOC, were restrained from participating in any strike till further hearing.

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While the OSOA announced on Sunday to go ahead with its stir, the Petroleum Employees Union decided to defer the agitation by a week in view of Petroleum Minister Ram Naik’s intervention asking the managements of the oil companies to expedite the negotiations on their demands.

The Mumbai HC restrained BPCL management staff union and refinery staff union from proceeding on strike till January 14. The order was given by Justice D K Desmukh on an application filed by the BPCL challenging the strike. IOC officers and workers were restrained by Justice Vikramjit Sen of Delhi HC from going on strike.

Meanwhile, the officers’ associations of five major profit-making PSU on Monday threatened to go on strike if the Government did not accede to their demand for amendment to recommendation of Justice Mohan Pay Commission on revision of pay scales forPSU officials.