Members of the Indian Oil Refinery Employees Union (IPREU) continued their hunger strike for the third consecutive day near Gate No. 2 of the refinery township on Sunday.
Around 20 more union members joined the protest on Sunday by observing a one-day hunger strike in support of the five members who have been on an indefinite hunger strike for the past three days.
A large number of employees reached the protest site to extend support to the union and raised slogans against the refinery administration over their demands.
IPREU president Sampooran Singh said employees were forced to go on a hunger strike due to the “wrong policies” of the refinery administration. He warned that the protest would continue until their demands were fulfilled.
The IPREU members started the hunger strike on July 17 after several rounds of talks with the refinery administration failed to yield a solution.
Singh said the refinery administration had not provided any concrete response to their demands so far.
“The employees are protesting for the basic amenities including clean potable water, stray dogs roaming in township, improving the quality of medicines and the medical laboratory, recruiting manpower in the service department, addressing the poor condition of the refinery township estate office, stopping the appointment of EOs in the PP-3 plant and restoring the benefits provided to employees on Refinery Day and Indian Oil Day that have been reduced,” he said.
Meanwhile, IOCL Refinery management issued a statement regarding the hunger strike on Sunday, stating that several appeals had been made to the union to withdraw the agitation.
The management said a meeting was held before Assistant Labour Commissioner (Central) [ALC(C)] at Karnal on July 17 regarding the strike notice submitted by the union. It said a point-wise reply was submitted and a copy was also provided to the union. The next joint discussion before the [ALC(C)] has been scheduled for July 31.
The refinery management said operations at the plant were running smoothly as the agitation was limited to Gate No. 2 of the refinery township.
A medical team from the refinery hospital has been deployed at the protest site to monitor the health of the employees round the clock. The management said the health condition of the protesting employees remained normal and stable.
The management again appealed to the union to call off the hunger strike and resolve the matter through established bipartite and conciliatory mechanisms.