The Joint Convention of Petroleum Workers, a forum representing all trade unions in the public sector petroleum units in the country, which met here on Sunday, resolved that a two-day nation-wide strike would be held across units of the public-sector Bharat Petroleum Corporation on April 20 and 21. Notice would be served on the management on April 4.

Employees of other public sector oil companies in the country will go on mass casual leave on April 20 in support of the BPCL employees. They will also join protest demonstrations on April 21. A joint convention of employees of the oil and petroleum companies would be held within March 2020 in centres like Mumbai, Kolkata, Guwahati, Kochi and other appropriate centres, the resolution from the convention said.

The employees have also decided to hold sensitisation and awareness campaigns against privatisation during the coming days as part of strengthening the protest action against the Union government move.

The strike and other protest action are being organised against the Union government decision to privatise the oil refining and marketing company.

Just the start

The convention said that BPCL was just the beginning of the privatisation process of the petroleum companies in the country. The Modi government budget for 2020-21 had “declared war of destruction” on the public sector. The government targetted raising ₹2.11 lakh crore from sale of stakes in PSUs.

General secretary of All India Petroleum Workers’ Federation I. M. Unyal, general secretary of National Federation of Petroleum Workers N. A. Khanvilkar and president of Petroleum and Gas Workers’ Federation of India Pradeep Mayekar are among the signatories to the resolution.

The convention at the Petro House was inaugurated by the joint secretary of the CITU Tapan Sen. CITU state general secretary Elamaram Kareem and INTUC State president R. Chandrashekharan spoke.