NEW DELHI: Oil minister Murli Deora's
appeal and offer of relief cut little ice with the agitating officers, who felt
it was "too late, too little". "We are firm on striking work as the assurance
given by none else than the
PM on September 4 last year has not been
fulfiled. The strike will be total and paralyse all operations, especially
refuelling of aircraft," said Mukul Kumar of IndianOil Officers' Association.
The officers are seeking merger of 50% dearness allowance with basic
pay, release of ad-hoc payment and withdrawal of tax on perquisites like
company-provided accommodation.
Last year, after days of agitation,
government assured the oilmen of fulfiling their demand for DA merger in line
with the Centre's 2004 decision. The promise was made by PM Manmohan Singh and
it was conveyed by the oil minister and heavy industries minister Santosh Mohan
Dev on September 4 after their meeting with the PM.
High drama and
slogan-shouting marked several round of talks throughout Monday between OASA
executives and government officials. At one point, OASA executives stormed out
of a meeting with representatives of oil companies' management and additional
secretary A S Sundaresan, charging the senior official with
"arrogance".
"We will not talk to a man who is so arrogant... We want
him (Sundaresan) to be removed," OSOA convener Ashok Singh said. Other OSOA
executives took umbrage at Sundaresan's alleged remarks to the effect that
officers are part of the management and had no right to strike and that OSOA was
not a "union" but merely an "association".
