Oil & Petroleum Workers Convention

  • Strike in BPCL, HPCL & MRPL on 28th November
  • To participate in the countrywide General Strike on 8th January

A National Convention of Oil & Petroleum Workers was held at the Constitution Club, Speakers’ Hall, New Delhi on 20th November 2019. It was jointly organized by the Trade Unions of different affiliations as well as the unaffiliated ones functioning in ONGC, IOC, OIL, BPCL and HPCL. Around 300 workers representatives from these oil PSUs from all over the country participated in the convention. The Delegates came from the states of Assam, West Bengal, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and National Capital of Delhi.

The inaugural address was delivered by G. Sanjeeva Reddy, President, INTUC. General Secretary AITUC Amarjeet Kaur also addressed the convention. I M Uniyal, N A Khanvilkar and Nogen Chutia, the General Secretaries of the three apex federations functioning in the oil PSUs, namely: All India Petroleum Workers’ Federation (AIPWF), National Federation of Petroleum Workers (NFPW) and Petroleum & Gas Workers’ Federation of India (PGWFI) respectively constituted the presidium and also addressed the convention.

The Declaration of the Convention was presented by Swadesh Dev Roye, National Secretary, CITU. Around 15 Delegates participated in the discussion and the Declaration was adopted unanimously. The Declaration captured quite exhaustively facts and figures exposing the policy bankruptcy of the Government, its persuasion of crony capitalism and its subservience to foreign oil MNCs. It also noted the adverse impact of the privatization to the country in terms of economy, national security, corporate social responsibility,  employment and democratic trade union rights. The convention condemned the Government for the suicidal decision of privatization of oil PSUs.  

Members of Parliament: Elamaram Kareem, K.K. Ragesh, K. Somaprasad, A.M. Ariff  from CPI(M ), Binoy Viswam, CPI, Hibi Eden, Congress Party,  Anil Desai and Gajanan Kirtikar, Shiva Sena addressed the convention.

The Convention reiterated the decision of the last Mumbai Convention held on 26th October 2019 of Strike Action on 28th November 2019 by BPCL, HPCL and MRPL workers and noted that preparation for the nationwide strike is going on very well. All the concerned unions have already served Notice of Strike. Strike preparatory Campaign, Propaganda and Agitation in the oil PSUs throughout the country going in full swing. Further the convention also called upon the oil & petroleum workers to intensify campaign, propaganda and agitation towards preparation for the 8th January 2020 nationwide General Strike called by the central trade unions. The next National Convention is decided to be held at Kolkata on 22nd December 2019.

Swadesh Dev Roye

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