Employees of Bharat Petroleum Corporation’s Kochi refinery here staged a “standup protest” on Monday during the visit by Union Petroleum Secretary Tarun Kapur to the refinery, to register their opposition to the proposed privatisation of the oil company.
The demands raised by the employees included withdrawal of the privatisation move as well as revision of salaries of the employees to bring them on par with that of employees of other oil companies, said a communication from the trade union here.
“Divestment motive”
The statement claimed that “anti-employee” conditions had been imposed on the workers through the wages revision contract at the behest of the Union Petroleum Ministry. The clauses in the wages revision contract were meant to help the process of privatisation, the communication alleged.
Refinery sources said that the protest did not obstruct the visit of the Union government official as the employees just staged their protest at the gates of the refinery. There was no blocking of the path of the official or any black flag demonstration on the occasion.
