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Employees of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) are going on a single-day hunger strike to protest against the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) proposed by the company management. The strike has been called by the BPCL Mumbai Refinery Unions. It will be observed on July 30.
“We have gone through many settlements signed in various public sector undertakings (PSUs) but no other management have come up with these unique ideas to deny their employees their rightful dues,” the unions alleged in their call for strike.
In their representation, the BPCL Refinery Unions said that wage revision is pending for the 42 months and this denies workmen their rightful dues.
“The wage agreement expired on December 31, 2016 in Mumbai Refinery, May 31, 2018 in Marketing and July 31, 2018 on Kochi Refinery but till now there is no settlement,” an earlier circular from the All India Coordination Committee of BPCL Workers had said.
Flagging one of the multiple issues they have with the VRS, the Unions said, “The management is denying us the rightful 100 per cent Daily Allowance neutralisation, which the management has himself taken.”
The BPCL management floated a VRS for employees on July 23. While this is not the first time that a VRS is being offered in BPCL, it gains more prominence in light of an impending privatisation of the PSU.
BPCL holds around 15 per cent of India’s crude oil refining capacity and 22 per cent of the fuel marketing share. Employees over 45 years of age have time till till August 13 to opt for the VRS.
The All India Coordination Committee of BPCL Workers has also opposed the privatisation process.
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