Police Detain Refinery Workers Protesting Wage Hike, Workers Stage Sit-in Outside Paradip Lock Police Station

Jagatsinghpur ( NPO ) : Tensions prevailed outside the Paradip Refinery of Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) on Tuesday, October 27, as nearly 2,000 workers staged a protest demanding a wage hike and other benefits. The agitation intensified after police detained around 80 protesting workers and took them away from the protest site. The workers, protesting under the banner of the FCI Workers’ Union, have been demanding a settlement with the IOCL authorities regarding their wages and other legitimate benefits. However, despite repeated appeals, the workers alleged that the management had failed to address their demands. According to the workers, many of them belong to families whose land was acquired for the refinery project. For years, members of these land-losing families have been employed as contractual workers in various departments of IOCL. The workers stated that a settlement concerning salary hikes, Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) and canteen facilities is generally negotiated with the IOCL authorities every two to three years. However, despite the completion of the stipulated period, the authorities have allegedly failed to initiate the necessary settlement process this time. The workers had held discussions with company officials and labour leaders on Monday, but the talks reportedly failed to reach an agreement. Following the unsuccessful negotiations, the workers launched their protest outside the refinery gate on Tuesday morning and refused to join duty until their demands were addressed. The situation became more tense after police detained around 80 protesters. In response, the detained workers reportedly staged a sit-in protest inside the premises of Paradip Lock Police Station, where they began an indefinite hunger strike. The agitation has heightened tensions among the refinery workers, with the protesters insisting that their wage revision and other pending demands be settled at the earliest.