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Richa Mishra

New Delhi, Jan. 10 Strategy, action, drama — the strike call by public sector oil companies executives from January 7 and its subsequent calling off had it all. Even as news from different companies on the calling-off of the strike started filtering in at the Petroleum Ministry on January 9 evening, a question which none wanted to answer was what could have prompted such a move by the officers who till 4 p.m. were adamant.

While the Petroleum Ministry maintains that there was no assurances and arm twisting, the entire approach adopted by the Ministry in dealing with the situation was well strategised. This is where the Oil Sector Officers’ Association (OSOA) seems to have lagged, say some insiders. “The leaders were not together and representatives were not available for talks as they were scattered to avoid arrest,” they said. Besides, OSOA’s awareness campaign talking about their demands was lagging, thus helping the government to garner all public support.

What finally seems to have broken the OSOA back is the cohesion with which all official stakeholders acted — the ministry, the companies and the state governments. The threat of detaining officers under the National Security Act 1980, the Essential Services Maintenance Act 1968, and getting the strike declared illegal by the courts seemed to have done the trick. Besides, several suspensions and dismissals of striking officers had already taken place.

The Petroleum Ministry, along with the management of the public sector oil companies, adopted a tough posture, while keeping the doors open for negotiations for the first two days. However, by the end of the second day of the strike, the Ministry seemed to have run out of patience. By late afternoon of the third day, they said, “We are not talking to anyone. This is absolute unreasonable obstinacy.” The officers were asked to return to work or face arrests.

The first to break under the pressure were smaller companies like Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Oil India Ltd. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd officers had not participated in the strike.

Cracks also seemed to appear within ASTO (Association of Scientific & Technical Officers, ONGC), which is a member of OSOA.

According to ministry sources, 10 out of the 19 ASTO State presidents were opposed to the strike. However, once the strike started, they all seem to have come together.

While withdrawing the strike, OSOA said that it was doing so in the larger interest of the country and on the appeals made by the Home Minister and the Petroleum Ministry.

Some questioned the role of the top management of the companies, who as members of SCOPE had earlier lent their voices to the demand of oil PSU executives and stated that the wage hike approved by the Government was actually very minuscule.

To this, the senior management of the oil companies are quick to point out, “let’s not combine the two. There are some issues, but there is a way to resolve them.” However, the role of some top management officials is under the Government scanner.

After managing to have the strike called off, the Government was prepared to be magnanimous.

Stating that there is no bad blood, the Petroleum Secretary, Mr R.S. Pandey, said it was for the companies to decide on reinstating employees.

It may be recalled that the OSOA, representing 14 PSU oil companies, had in November last year said that the recent wage hike approved by the Government was not what they expected, and threatened to go on strike from January 7.

More Stories on : Petroleum | Trade & Labour Unions

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