Petroleum workers to strike against proposed deal with India

Seven trade unions attached to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) will launch a strike over three issues including the move to sign a pact with India regarding the oil tanks in the Eastern port city of Trincomalee.

CPC Sri Lanka Freedom Workers Union President Bandula Saman Kumara said the decision was made since the authorities have yet failed to address their issues.

The strike will be staged from midnight tomorrow (24), he said.  Sri Lanka and India are expected to sign an agreement to jointly invest and develop the Trincomalee Port and establish a petroleum refinery and other industries there.

The Petroleum Joint Union Alliance says it opposes the proposal to transfer operations rights to oil tanks to India since the agreement would benefit Indian companies, allowing it to expand further and the CPC, which is already in debt, will incur further financial losses.

They also asked the government to shelve plans to build a new oil refinery with Chinese assistance in the southern port of Hambantota and to immediately begin repairing the existing refinery near Colombo.

"We will be striking from tomorrow and stop all fuel distribution in the country," Kumara told reporters today. (With inputs from PTI)