Disruption of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supply seems to have become a routine affair in the city, with plants of oil and gas companies witnessing frequent strikes by various sections of employees. At least four agitations were reported at the facilities of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) in Kochi this year alone over various reasons.
In the latest incident, a section of truck drivers at the BPCL LPG bottling plant at Ambalamedu reportedly went on a non-cooperation strike on Tuesday alleging discrimination by the company in distributing Deepavali sweets. Cylinder movement to six districts was affected as the drivers stayed away from work in the morning.
A voice message from a union member circulated among the drivers cited the alleged discrimination as the reason behind the impromptu strike. It was alleged that the BPCL authorities had ignored the drivers while distributing sweets, saying they were not part of the company.
Neither any trade union nor the company has responded to the incident officially. A BPCL source confirmed that movement of around 55 loads of LPG cylinders was affected with the drivers’ decision to keep away from work.
