MALAPPURAM: LPG consumers in the district never had it so bad! The
long-pending contract labour issue at Indian Oil Corporation's LPG
bottling plant at Chelari seems to be never-ending. And the consumers
have to bear the brunt of it all.
For the last two years, there has been no high-level intervention for resolving the labour issues at the bottling plant at Chelari.
And the LPG distribution to almost 1 lakh consumers across Malabar is being interrupted frequently.
For the last two years, there has been no high-level intervention for resolving the labour issues at the bottling plant at Chelari.
And the LPG distribution to almost 1 lakh consumers across Malabar is being interrupted frequently.
The indefinite strike launched by cylinder handling and housekeeping
workers of the plant on Monday has created a fresh crisis and the move
of cylinders from the plant has been completely stopped.
After loading and unloading workers of the plant launched a 'Go-Slow' strike on June 12, there is already a shortage of about 50 lakh cooking gas cylinders in Malabar districts.
The indefinite strike is going to spell trouble for about 1 lakh LPG customers in the region. The district collector K Biju will convene a meeting of IOC officials and labour contractor on Tuesday to discuss the issue.
But the employees' unions are not hopeful that the meeting will be able to reach at any helpful consensus.
The employees are demanding the implementation of wage hike decision taken in previous meetings called by the labour commissioners and district collector at various locations.
The convenor of coordination committee of unions Prince Kumar said that the contractor should be ready to give monthly salary of at least Rs 18,000 for each employee in addition to the risk allowance and other perks.
"We are not hopeful regarding the discussion on Tuesday as the contractor is yet to keep his promise regarding wage hike made in a similar meeting presided by the collector three months ago. We are demanding the intervention of chief minister on this issue," he said.
When labour strike affected the LPG distribution in Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Malappuram and Palakkad districts, three months ago the IOC brought LPG to Malabar, from its Coimbatore, Mangalore and Kochi plants to resolve the issue of acute shortage of LPG here.
Normally 50 loads of LPG cylinders are being dispatched from the plant to different local-level LPG dealers on daily basis.
But, on Monday the refilling was completely stopped at the plant and the distribution from local dealers was also blocked. A local level dealer of cooking gas needs 400 to 1,500 LPG cylinders daily for distribution in their areas. The proprietor of Grace Gas Agency in Edavannapara, Malappuram district, P Bhaskaran said the strike will affect the distribution of LPG in the coming days and it will lead to strong protest by customers.
After loading and unloading workers of the plant launched a 'Go-Slow' strike on June 12, there is already a shortage of about 50 lakh cooking gas cylinders in Malabar districts.
The indefinite strike is going to spell trouble for about 1 lakh LPG customers in the region. The district collector K Biju will convene a meeting of IOC officials and labour contractor on Tuesday to discuss the issue.
But the employees' unions are not hopeful that the meeting will be able to reach at any helpful consensus.
The employees are demanding the implementation of wage hike decision taken in previous meetings called by the labour commissioners and district collector at various locations.
The convenor of coordination committee of unions Prince Kumar said that the contractor should be ready to give monthly salary of at least Rs 18,000 for each employee in addition to the risk allowance and other perks.
"We are not hopeful regarding the discussion on Tuesday as the contractor is yet to keep his promise regarding wage hike made in a similar meeting presided by the collector three months ago. We are demanding the intervention of chief minister on this issue," he said.
When labour strike affected the LPG distribution in Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Malappuram and Palakkad districts, three months ago the IOC brought LPG to Malabar, from its Coimbatore, Mangalore and Kochi plants to resolve the issue of acute shortage of LPG here.
Normally 50 loads of LPG cylinders are being dispatched from the plant to different local-level LPG dealers on daily basis.
But, on Monday the refilling was completely stopped at the plant and the distribution from local dealers was also blocked. A local level dealer of cooking gas needs 400 to 1,500 LPG cylinders daily for distribution in their areas. The proprietor of Grace Gas Agency in Edavannapara, Malappuram district, P Bhaskaran said the strike will affect the distribution of LPG in the coming days and it will lead to strong protest by customers.
Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kozhikode/Labour-trouble-at-IOC-plant-continues/articleshow/37103598.cms
