IOCL: We will not victimize workers

The Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU), as the representative trade union for IOCL workers, served strike notice against the company on October 20 last year.

Striking workers rallied through the Christmas season without their salaries, setting up camp outside the company in Otaheite, South Oropouche, demanding IOCL pay them the minimum wage they say Petrotrin stipulated via an agreement with IOCL.

Preparing to return to work, workers expressed fears that the company would victimize them.

However, human resource manager of IOCL, Rupnarine Chatelal, said, “We have absolutely no intention of victimizing our workers. IOCL employees are our employees and we need employees to run our company.

The company has suffered greatly with no revenue coming in for the last three months, but we still had financial obligations to meet with our suppliers and maintenance department.

The sooner workers return to work the better it would be for all of us.” Chatelal said IOCL should be up and running fully as early as next week or as soon as their boats become available.

“We know workers have not had an easy ride, because banks and financial institutions have been calling us asking about their payments, and the only thing we could have said was that they were on strike.” Chatelal maintained strike action “made no sense” because the company could not, even if it wanted to, pay its workers what they were demanding.

OWTU shop steward for IOCL, Ronald Williams, however, said when the matter is taken to the Industrial Court, “Lord help IOCL.” Williams said at the last two-day meeting in December at the Ministry of Labour, the OWTU on the first day requested the company to produce the evidence of their inability to pay.

According to him, IOCL refused to return with the documents on the second day.

The matter will be taken to the Industrial Court for resolution.