Oil PSU officers defer proposed strike from Dec 2

The executives of public sector oil firms today called off their proposed indefinite strike from December 2 following some tough negotiations, coupled with pressure from the government.

Unhappy at 40 to 200 per cent wage hike approved by the government earlier this month, the Oil Sector Officers Association (OSOA), which claims to represent 55,000 officers of 14 oil PSUs, had called an indefinite strike from December 2.

"The strike has been deferred for an indefinite period," an official said.

The association said in a statement later this evening that it decided to defer the strike after deliberating over the terror attacks in Mumbai.

 

With two days to go before the strike, which could have crippled the economy by halting oil and gas production and disrupting fuel supplies, Petroleum Secretary R S Pandey did some tough talking, contending that officers, being part of the decision-making process, could not resort to strikes.

Simultaneously, heads of the companies engaged their respective unions, telling the executives that the government had done its best in times of a global economic downturn. Also they told the officers that together with perks and performance-related pay, their total remuneration was highly competitive.

They also held out the threat of disciplinary action if the officers went ahead with the strike.