Work resumes at IOCL refinery site as labour impasse ends

The deadlock at the oil refinery site of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) at Paradip caused by the four-day stir of the contract labourers was finally resolved after company authorities agreed to provide compensation to the labourers who were injured in firing by the jawans of Central Industrial Security Forces (CISF) guarding the plant.

Work at the refinery, being taken up at an investment of Rs 28,000 crore, had come to a grinding halt due to the strike. The firing by CISF jawans followed a clash between labourers and truck drivers on Tuesday.

Eight workers’ unions called off the stir on Friday following negotiations with IOCL officials in the presence of district authroties. Earlier, two attempts to get over the impasse through bipartite talks between IOCL executives and representatives of labourers had failed to yield any breakthrough.

“IOCL has decided to give financial assistance of Rs 3 lakh to one seriously injured labourer and Rs 50,000- Rs 1 lakh to others who were injured during firing. Other problems like issue of gate pass will be solved with the cooperation of district officials and workers’ union leaders very soon,” said M Vijaywargiya, executive director of IOCL's Paradip refinery.

“Work at the refinery project has restarted. But around 10,000 labourers have left the project site since the firing incident and it will take 5-7 days to bring them back,” he added.

Though IOCL agreed to provide compensation, the key demand of action against errant CISF personnel still remains unresolved.

Rajan Pallei, one of the Union leaders demanded action against the errant CISF officials who opened fire on the labourers.

Narayan Chandra Jena, Jagatsinghpur district collector said, “The state government is investigating the role of CISF officials in the incident. The district administration and IOCL will send proposal to the CISF authorities on unions’ grievances regarding action against them.”

“IOCL authorities have committed to provide financial assistance to injured persons and to solve gate pass issue on July 10. A coordination cum peace committee has been formed to solve different issues to bring peace at the IOCL site,” he added.

It may be noted that the agitating labourers had raised eight-point charter of demands- meeting the expenses towards medical treatment of injured labourers, suspension of errant CISF personnel, providing employment to one member of injured families in IOCL, issue of permanent gate pass to labourers and their representatives and identification of miscreants in gate-1 and 4, conduct of RDC level probe into the firing incident and formation of peace committee to restore peace in IOCL area- after this incident.