The Vegan Marxist
3rd August 2010, 01:15
This here shows how the working class within the UCPN-M (Maoist) can collectively come together with fellow workers & bring about a clear resistance against the private corporations in Nepal.
Agitating pump workers disrupt fuel supply
REPUBLICA
KATHMANDU, Aug 2: Agitating workers of private refilling stations obstructed distribution of fuel at some 80 percent of pumps operating in the Valley on Monday, demanding pump owners to instantly issue appointment letter and provide insurance coverage, among others.
This badly affected supply of fuel in the market. Dealers said they have already taken steps to fulfill workers demands to prevent supply problems.
Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), meanwhile, declared that it is distributing more than regular volume of fuel to the institutional pumps like the ones run by Nepal Army, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and Sajha until the private dealers sort out their problem with workers to prevent shortage of fuel in the market.
“Only 24 refilling stations, which managed to fulfill workers´ demands, collected the fuel on Monday,” said Bhubaneshwar Rajbhandari, chief of Thankot depot of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC).
He informed myrepublica.com that NOC on the day pumped out just around 186 kiloliters (KL) of petrol and 246 KL of diesel in the market. The volume was just two-third of daily average consumption of fuel in the Valley.
The situation is improvement over Sunday though. On Sunday, pump workers, mainly those associated with UCPN (Maoist)-affiliated All Nepal Petroleum Workers Union had brought the distribution of fuel at all over 100 refilling stations in the Valley to a complete halt.
“As we could not be sure of how the problems between pump owners and their workers will unfold in days to come, we issued more fuel to institutional dealers, aiming to ease supplies,” said Rajbhandari.
Nepal Petroleum Dealers Association (NPDA), the syndicate of petrol pump owners, meanwhile, said it has already issued circular to all its members throughout the country to issue appointment letters, provide insurance coverage and fulfill all other agreements that they signed with the Union officials around six months ago.
“We have already issued a format of appointment that we developed in coordination with Ministry of Labor and Transport Management to our members,” said Saroj Pandey, president of NPDA.
He further informed that around two dozen pumps in the Valley complied with its instructions on Monday and more will follow the suit on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Linendra Pradhan, member of the association, said that not all pumps could implement the agreements that they agreed with the workers union because many workers could not produce citizenship certificate and photographs and decide on nominees for insurance payment in case of mishaps.
“The problem lingered because of practical constraints that the workers themselves faced. It has nothing to do with us,” said Pradhan, adding that consumers will not suffer shortage because of these problems.
As per the agreement, the petrol pump owners are required to issue appointment letters dated mid-July 2009, provide provident fund, accident insurance of Rs 200,000 and medical insurance of Rs 50,000.
They will also need to comply with minimum wage rate set by the government, pay extra for out-of-the-pump works and distribute two sets of uniform in a year.
http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=21774
Agitating pump workers disrupt fuel supply
REPUBLICA
KATHMANDU, Aug 2: Agitating workers of private refilling stations obstructed distribution of fuel at some 80 percent of pumps operating in the Valley on Monday, demanding pump owners to instantly issue appointment letter and provide insurance coverage, among others.
This badly affected supply of fuel in the market. Dealers said they have already taken steps to fulfill workers demands to prevent supply problems.
Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), meanwhile, declared that it is distributing more than regular volume of fuel to the institutional pumps like the ones run by Nepal Army, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and Sajha until the private dealers sort out their problem with workers to prevent shortage of fuel in the market.
“Only 24 refilling stations, which managed to fulfill workers´ demands, collected the fuel on Monday,” said Bhubaneshwar Rajbhandari, chief of Thankot depot of Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC).
He informed myrepublica.com that NOC on the day pumped out just around 186 kiloliters (KL) of petrol and 246 KL of diesel in the market. The volume was just two-third of daily average consumption of fuel in the Valley.
The situation is improvement over Sunday though. On Sunday, pump workers, mainly those associated with UCPN (Maoist)-affiliated All Nepal Petroleum Workers Union had brought the distribution of fuel at all over 100 refilling stations in the Valley to a complete halt.
“As we could not be sure of how the problems between pump owners and their workers will unfold in days to come, we issued more fuel to institutional dealers, aiming to ease supplies,” said Rajbhandari.
Nepal Petroleum Dealers Association (NPDA), the syndicate of petrol pump owners, meanwhile, said it has already issued circular to all its members throughout the country to issue appointment letters, provide insurance coverage and fulfill all other agreements that they signed with the Union officials around six months ago.
“We have already issued a format of appointment that we developed in coordination with Ministry of Labor and Transport Management to our members,” said Saroj Pandey, president of NPDA.
He further informed that around two dozen pumps in the Valley complied with its instructions on Monday and more will follow the suit on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Linendra Pradhan, member of the association, said that not all pumps could implement the agreements that they agreed with the workers union because many workers could not produce citizenship certificate and photographs and decide on nominees for insurance payment in case of mishaps.
“The problem lingered because of practical constraints that the workers themselves faced. It has nothing to do with us,” said Pradhan, adding that consumers will not suffer shortage because of these problems.
As per the agreement, the petrol pump owners are required to issue appointment letters dated mid-July 2009, provide provident fund, accident insurance of Rs 200,000 and medical insurance of Rs 50,000.
They will also need to comply with minimum wage rate set by the government, pay extra for out-of-the-pump works and distribute two sets of uniform in a year.
http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=21774