OF workers vote for strike, unions wait for news from Chinese front

NAGPUR: Unions in the ordnance factories claim to have received more than the required mandate in the strike ballot moved from June 8 to June 17. This will allow unions to call for an indefinite strike against the government’s move on corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB).
There are 41 ordnance factories in the country which manufacture a whole range of items from bullets to artillery guns and rockets. The strike vote incidentally comes at a time of tension on the Chinese front.
A joint press release issued by the three unions has said they have got an overwhelming response to the strike ballot. The three recognized unions, including the RSS-backed Bharatiya Pratiraksha Mazdoor Sangh (BPMS), said that despite the lockdown, 99% of the employees took part in the strike ballot.
“The unions will be again meeting some time in the second week of July, depending on the Covid-lockdown situation and decide on the date of commencement of strike,” said the press release.
The three unions operating in the factories are — All India Defence Employees Federation (AIDEF), Indian National Defence Workers Federation (INDWF), and the Bharatiya Pratiraksha Mazdoor Sangh (BPMS).
However, given the tense situation along the Chinese border, there is a chance the unions may change their decision.
PSU OFs may fail to maintain financial viability
Even as the strike ballot has got a massive response, apart from Covid another reason to hold the meet in July to decide the date of strike is the current situation on the eastern front. The recent incident has left ordnance factory workers angry and they are ready to work overtime if need arises. “Differences will be set aside in such a situation,” said Mukesh Singh, general secretary of BPMS. The unions will monitor the situation till July second week, and then take a decision on indefinite strike, he said.
The OFB is currently a government department, and corporatisation will make it a public sector undertaking (PSU). Once a PSU, it will have to be self-sustaining and generate enough profits to continue operations.
Unions are opposing corporatisation as they say that ordnance factories mainly depend on orders from the Army, which are fluctuating. If orders are down, it may affect revenues too, and as a PSU ordnance factories may not be able to maintain financial viability.
The latest plan to corporatize the ordnance factory set-up was a part of the post-Covid revamp moves. Last year in August too the government had mooted the corporatisation plan, after which the unions had gone on an indefinite strike, following which the plans were put on hold. The government had assured that the unions will be consulted if any such step is taken in the future.