In what might be a shocker to consumers during Onam season, LPG cylinder distribution in southern districts of the state will be seriously hit as the indefinite strike called by contract workers of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) bottling plant in Parippally near here will continue as reconciliation talks with the Labour Minister failed.
The meeting chaired by Labour Minister Shibu Baby John on Thursday failed to reach a consensus and even saw the truck owners (contractors) boycotting it.
Meanwhile, the Minister has sought Labour Commissioner-in-charge V L Anil Kumar to take legal advice on invoking Essential Services Maintenance Act (Esma) as a solution to the strike.
Contract workers, including drivers and cleaners of trucks, headload workers, and housekeeping and security personnel, are on strike, demanding bonus and advance salary during Onam.
Several rounds of talks convened by various levels of Labour Department officials had preceded Thursday’s meeting.
A final round of talks convened by Regional Joint Labour Commissioner A K Sreehari on Tuesday failed.
Minister Shibu Baby John has asked the Indian Oil Corporation, the principal employer, to pay `10,000 to drivers and `5,000 to cleaners as advance salary, even as the decision on bonus remains inconclusive.
The bottling plant in Parippally has around 410 workers under various private contractors.
There are around 140 trucks under 13 truck owners and these trucks are employed to distribute LPG cylinders to Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Idukki, Alappuzha, Kottayam, and even Kanyakumari.