BPCL workers nationwide strike hampers work

New Delhi, Apr 18 (UNI) The nationwide strike of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) workers today completely paralysed the work all over the country.

The strike had been called against the discrimination in payment of performance linked incentive (PLI) between the workers and the officers.

''The argument advanced by BPCL management that higher payment has been given to officers in order to address the issue of inadequacy of emoulments of senior officers is baseless. Inadequacy of emoulments is not peculiar to BPCL alone,'' All India Trade Union Congress G L DHar said in a statement.

Earlier in a meeting with All India Petroleum Workers Federation and Union Association of BPCL, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora had assured he would direct BPCL to resolve the issue through negotiations but that did not happen. Even efforts of the Chief Labour Commissioner to bring about settlement were spruned by the management.

For the first time in BPCL the difference between PLI paid to workers and the officers got so much widened that at the minimum level officers have been given five times more than workmen and at the maximum level it is nearly eight times more.

Moreover, the Madras High Court had declined to interfere with a strike notice issued by BPCL employees for today's strike and told the corporation to seek relief from the appropriate forum under the Industrial Disputes Act (IDA) 1947.

UNI