KOCHI: The Kerala High Court has restrained the employees’ union of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited here and its members from taking part in the nationwide general strike in protest against the Centre’s policies.
Justice A K Jayasankaran Nambiar issued the interim order on the petition filed by Kurian P Alappatt, Chief General Manager, BPCL against the strike called by General and Construction Workers’ Union (CITU), Cochin Refineries General Workers’ Congress (INTUC) and others.
Advocate P Benny Thomas, counsel for the petitioner, submitted that the company is engaged in the refining and marketing of petroleum products and their transportation to various organisations such as defence, airports and retail outlets across the state.
The company also has LPG bottling plants and aviation fuelling stations and it supplies LPG cylinders to over 24 lakh consumers and supplies diesel and aviation turbine fuel(ATF) to several airlines. It has also been notified as a public utility service by the government. The unions served strike notices on the company even as conciliatory proceedings are afoot before the Conciliation Officer, Adv Thomas argued.
Counsel for the trade union opposed the plea and submitted that the strike notice served on the management followed a call for a nationwide strike.The court observed that provisions in the Industrial Disputes Act mandated that workers in public utility service should be restrained from resorting to strike, notwithstanding the notice served by them within the time contemplated under the Act.