Contract transport workers attached to the LPG bottling plant of the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) at Pariapally near here announced withdrawal of their five-day-old strike late on Saturday night following the receipt of a formal agreement from the IOCL assuring payment of Rs. 22.05 lakh on the next bank working day to settle their bonus issue which led to the strike.
The district collector, B. Mohanan, confirmed receipt of a written statement on Saturday night from the Kochi office of the IOCL assuring payment of the amount as demanded by the district administration as an advance for settling the transport workers strike at the bottling plant. The development will work towards easing the Indane cooking gas shortage experienced in the four southern districts of the State.
The district administration had asked the IOC management to provide the amount as advance payment for the month of September to the truck contractors. The measure was mooted to end the strike in view of the heavy demand for cooking gas during the Onam season. The IOCL management had at a meeting on Thursday assured the Collector to pay the amount by Saturday. As the cheque failed to reach the Collector till Saturday afternoon, he issued orders for the preventive detention of the manager of the plant, Thomas George, invoking the provisions of the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA). Mr. Mohanan also issued a deadline that if the IOCL failed to furbish the formal agreement by 7 p.m., the manager would be arrested.
