Oil and Natural Gas Corporations (ONGC) chief R S Sharma and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) Chairman Sarthak Behuria have lent their voices to the demands of oil PSU executives, who announced indefinite strike from next week, saying the wage hike approved by the government was actually minuscule and more needed to be done.
Behuria, writing as the Chairman of Standing Conference of Public Enterprise to the Secretary of Department of Public Enterprises, stated that bureaucrats had reduced the wage hike approved by the Justice M J Rao Committee, placing executives at a "disadvantageous position".
The Cabinet in November had approved lesser wage hikes suggested by a Committee of Secretaries, resulting in executives "feeling disappointed and greatly de-motivated".
Sharma in a letter to the Oil Secretary suggested giving officers a separate risk pay, grading fitments benefits and higher house rent allowances and other allowances.
The Oil Sector Officers Association (OSOA), an amalgamation of officers' unions of 14 PSU oil firms, said the November wage hike approved by the government out to only 17 per cent and have threatened to go on indefinite strike from January 7.
"Its do-or-die this time," OSOA President Amit Kumar said.
More From This Section
He said a grouping of Home Minister P Chidambaram, Oil Minister Murli Deora, Heavy Industries Minister Santosh Mohan Dev and Minister of State for Finance P K Bansal charged with looking into their demands, was not even a Group of Ministers.
"This so-called panel (announced Friday evening) has not been officially notified. There is no terms of reference or a time frame for addressing our issues," he said.
A strike in oil PSUs can cripple the already strained economy beginning with disruption in fuel supplies to airlines and slowly impacting auto fuel and cooking fuel supplies.