NOC staff threaten strike if bonus not given

KATHMANDU, July 30: Two trade unions at Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), the bankrupt state-owned company that was recently forced to withdraw its bonus scheme following stiff criticisms, have jointly presented a 13-point demand to the management, including distribution of bonus to staff, and a seven-day ultimatum.

"If the management turns a deaf ear, we will be forced to stop operations at all depots -- something that might be unpleasant for consumers”, reads the memorandum that NOC Employees Association and NOC Employees Organization handed over to the management.

Officials of the two trade unions also said that NOC management should shoulder the responsibility for consumers´ inconvenience if that happened.

"The trade unions handed over their demands to the management on Wednesday," NOC spokesperson Mukunda Dhungel told Republica. He did not disclose the demands though.

Interestingly, officials of both trade unions refused to make their demands public.

However, in the demand letter disclosed to Republica, the trade unions have raised objection over the NOC board´s recent decision to annul a previous decision to distribute bonus for fiscal year 2008/09. The corporation had earned a profit of Rs 3.31 billion during the year. Based on that, the corporation had provisioned over Rs 19 million for bonus to staff.

However, the board last week annulled distribution of the bonus after the decision drew flak from the government and consumer rights activists, mainly because the corporation accumulated losses of Rs 7.92 billion and had a negative net worth of Rs 7.63 billion during the year.

"We want the reasons why the board decided not to distribute bonus even for the year when NOC was in profit," reads the memorandum.

Likewise, the two trade unions have asked NOC management and board to revise upwards the acceptable loss limit for major depots, mainly Amlekhgunj, where fuel loss has consistently exceeded the control target over the last few years.

Against the findings of a high-level committee that rising loss indicates anomaly at the depot, the two trade unions have argued that the acceptable loss limit set for the depots is unscientific.

"We urge the management to make it scientific," reads the memorandum.

The trade unions have likewise asked the management to revoke the action that it took against Dinesh Yadav, former Amlekhgunj depot chief and 21 other staffers for crossing the loss limit. The management had suspended them a few months ago, after the high-level committee assessed that they inflicted a Rs 29.2 million loss on the corporation. The NOC board has even asked management to make them pay the loss amount.

The employees association and organization have further demanded that management instantly stop importing fuel from Barauni, statting that it has been causing losses to at the depots to rise, rendering staff unable to keep within the acceptable loss limit.

Among other things, they have also asked management to provide insurance cover to all staff, particularly those working at the depots, in case of accident“. "In case of death, NOC should pay the family Rs 1.5 million in compensation," reads the memorandum.

Source: http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=21600