Oil cos. go on indefinite strike today, may cripple nation

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On Monday, representatives of 45,000 officers of state-run oil firms met Petroleum Minister Murli Deora but the meeting failed to break the deadlock with OSOA deciding to go ahead with the strike.

"It is very unfortunate that our appeal has not been accepted by the Oil Sector Officers Association (OSOA)," Deora said, adding that all contingency plans, including using retired officers from oil companies, Territorial Army, and senior officers to man key installations, have been drawn.

"Defence and air force services will not be allowed to be paralysed because of their agitation," he added.

The called strike, which began Tuesday at 6.00 am, is expected to immediately hit operations of refineries and cripple aviation refueling facilities, and may lead to petrol stations running dry in 48 hours.

OSOA, a representative body of officers from nine oil sector public sector undertakings (PSUs) such as ONGC, IOC, BPCL and HPCL, is seeking the merger of 50 percent dearness allowance (DA) with basic pay, release of ad-hoc payments and withdrawal of tax on perquisites like company provided accommodation.

The oil workers' union wants salaries to be doubled to deter employees from leaving for private companies that have been allowed to enter India's oil business as part of an economic reform program.

"The best talent is moving over to the private sector after getting trained with a public sector company for five to 10 years," Bloomberg quoted Ashok Singh, president of OSOA, as saying from Mumbai. "We have no plans to call off the strike."

"The ministry has not kept its promise of raising wages to stop employees' attrition," Singh said.

According to informed sources, ONGC lost 370 mid-level managers in the past 18 months compared with about 50 to 60 officers who had left two years earlier.

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