KOCHI: The two-day-old strike by a section of the drivers at Indian Oil Corporation, Irumpanam terminal, from where diesel, petrol and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) are supplied to different parts of the state, was called off on Monday following talks held between the stakeholders. The strike had the tacit support of the tanker operators as well. The terminal supplies petrol pumps from Thiruvananthapuram to Malappuram.
According to a trade union leader, the strike was launched on Saturday after the IOC management suspended the arrangement of substitution of workers for deployment as cleaners in the tanker lorries, without prior notice on Saturday. “Workers started reporting for duty by Monday evening after the management agreed to continue the system through the course of the present contract, which ends on March 31,” he said. However, an IOC official said that no such decision was taken and the workers and tanker operators launched the strike unilaterally demanding that the tanker lorries should be allowed to operate with driver alone.
The official said the stalemate ended after transporters and workers agreed to deploy cleaner and helper in every oil tanker through the entire course of the transportation of the fuel as per the Motor Vehicle regulations. It was alleged that the truck the drivers were aiming to pocket the salary of the helpers as well. The official said because of the strike, only 50% (250 trucks against normal loading of 550 trucks) of the trucks were loaded from the terminal for the past two days. The matter was reported to the state government. “It will take four or five days for the supply become normal after meeting the backlog in IOC and KSRTC pumps,” the official added.
