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12 January, 2009
Indian Oil Sector Officers’ Association (OSOA) President Amit Kumar announced the start of a three-day strike on Wednesday, 7 January. Strikers, representing 14 organisations in the OSOA, demand higher wages. The union numbers some 50,000 white-collar workers at hundreds of Indian enterprises. The OSOA is not affiliated to the ICEM.
Three public sector companies, the Indian state oil company ONGC, and refineries were hit and it coincided with a strike by Indians truck drivers, whose own strike began Monday, 5 January. Petroleum Secretary R.S. Pandey conceded that production was being curtailed at Koyali refinery, Panipat refinery, Mathura refinery, and the Haldia refinery.
The government took a tough stand, invoking the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) at several locations. The first day of the nationwide strike saw gas supplies to industrial consumers disrupted, and the government arrested two employees under ESMA, and suspending nearly 100 others across the country. OSOA leaders Narendra Goyal and Somesh Ranjan were both arrested in Delhi from their offices.
Representatives of the All India Motor Transport Congress truckers union said their strike would continue despite the arrest of their president, Charan Singh Lohara, and secretary S Venugopal on Friday.