The nation-wide strike by more than one lakh workers of 41 Ordnance Factories all over the country against proposed corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board(OFB) was called off on Saturday after the Government assured that no final decision was taken on the matter. The production is likely to resume from Monday after the strike began on August 20.
Giving this information here on Saturday, defence ministry officials said the agitation was called off following talks with representatives of four recognized unions on Friday. While reaffirming that the proposed corporatisation of OFB is under examination of the Government, Secretary, Defence Production listened to the concerns expressed by the Employees Federations regarding how the benefits/interests of employees in terms of wages, health facilities and other service matters may be affected due to corporatisation of OFB.
The Employees Federations inter-alia suggested that their views should be considered while preparing the roadmap for increasing the turnover of the proposed entity from the current levels. After detailed deliberations, it was agreed to recommend to the government, the setting up of a high level official committee to interact with employees federations to examine their concerns and other aspects of the proposed new entity. The Federations on their part have agreed to withdraw the ongoing strike and continue with the process of dialogue. With this, employees will now be resuming their duties with effect from Monday, officials said.
A joint statement by the three recognised federations said they have taken a decision to “postpone” the ongoing strike from Monday (August 26), claiming that they have been assured by the government that no final decision has been taken to corporatise the ordnance factories, reported PTI from Kolkata.
The three recognized federations are All India Defence Employees Federation, the Indian National Defence Workers Federation and the Bharathiya Pratiraksha Mazdoor Sangh.
They claimed that they decided to postpone the ongoing strike, “considering the statement made by the Secretary, Defence Production, that no final decision has been taken by the government to corporatise the ordnance factories and also the assurance that all the concerns expressed by the federations will be considered by a high level committee.”
The joint statement said the decision was taken following a meeting between the Secretary, Defence Production, with the federations. It said a decision has been taken at the meeting that a high level committee will be constituted by the government to discuss the issues raised by the federations.
Defence production at the ordnance factories, which manufacture sophisticated weapons and equipments from tanks and artillery guns to specialised vehicles and ammunition, was affected with the 82,000-strong work force going on a strike from August 20 to protest the Centre’s plan to corporatise the Ordnance Factory Board.
The unions claimed that the government’s motive was to ultimately privatise the defence production facilities of OFB, which is under the Defence ministry, while the government asserted that it has no such plans.
Continuing the process of dialogue which had started from 14 August 2019, the fourth meeting was held yesterdaywith the office bearers of AIDEF, INDWF, BPMS and CDRA under the Chairmanship of Secretary, DDP. While reaffirming that the proposed corporatisation of OFB is under examination of the Government, Secretary, DDP patiently listened to the concerns expressed by the Employees Federations regarding how the benefits/interests of employees in terms of wages, health facilities and other service matters may be affected due to corporatisation of OFB. The Employees Federations inter-alia suggested that their views should be considered while preparing the roadmap for increasing the turnover of the proposed entity from the current levels. After detailed deliberations, it was agreed to recommend to the Government, the setting up of a High Level Official Committee to interact with Employees Federations to examine their concerns and other aspects of the proposed new entity. The Federations on their part have agreed to withdraw the ongoing strike and continue with the process of dialogue. With this, employees will now be resuming their duties with effect from Monday, 26th August, 2019.