HPL workers go for indefinite strike

Kolkata, Nov 22 : Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL) in West Bengal's East Midnapore district has been shut down by an indefinite strike for the first time since it became operational in 2001.

The Citu-spearheaded strike to press for higher wages for 1,500 contract workers came on the eve of chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's scheduled visit to East Midnapore.

The strike has been called by the Haldia Petrochemicals Service and Maintenance Contractors Workers'Union affiliated to CITU.

'This is to inform that there was a Conciliation Proceedings towards settlement of Chartered of Demand (COD) between HPL and HPL Contractors'Workers Union yesterday, in presence of Additional Labour Commissioner, in the course of which the above Union served notice of an indefinite strike effective from 21.11.09,'said a HPL statement issued on Sunday.

The ongoing work for implementation of Project Supermax has thus come to a halt at the moment, the statement added.