Half-day strike at petrol pumps today

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FE Report
Petrol pump owners and tank lorry workers will observe a half-day strike at the pumps and depots today (Sunday) across the country to realise their 13-point demands.
Bangladesh Petrol Pump Owners and Tank Lorry Workers-Owners Unity Council, a newly formed combined body of petrol pump owners and tank-lorry workers, called for work abstention from 6 am to 12 noon today.
Their demands include enhancing the commission rate for pump owners and dealers on their business, beefing up security at petrol pumps, preventing harassment against the pump owners and tank lorry workers by police, issuing arms licences to the pump owners and creating hygienic atmosphere at the fuel depots for the transport workers.
Bangladesh Petrol Pump Owners and Bangladesh Tank Lorry Workers Federation jointly formed the Unity Council to launch their movement.
Unity Council Convener Nazmul Haque told reporters that all kinds of businesses and operations at petrol pumps and in transportation of petroleum would remain suspended during the nationwide shutdown.
He said that they were compelled to go for the trade union action following the collapse of talks with Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC).
"We've been urging the BPC and other government agencies to implement our demands, but the BPC management has failed to make any commitment in this regard," said Nazmul, also President of Bangladesh Petrol Pump Owners Association.
Nazmul said petrol pump owners face a seriously deteriorated security situation at their filling stations as incidents of robbery took place at 147 pumps across the country in last 8 months.
"Muggers took away about Tk 160 million (16 crore) from pump owners at gunpoint. But, till today, police could not arrest any of the miscreants," he said.
He said the government gave an assurance in 2004 of issuing gun licence to the pump owners for the sake of security. But no licence has been issued so far.
Nazmul also said the pump owners and the lorry workers would launch a greater movement if the government failed to fulfil their demands.
The other demands of the Unity Council include coverage of operational loss for storage, leakage and evaporation of oil, readjustment of sales commission due to increase in other expenditures, establishment of a joint-monitoring cell to check adulteration and pilferage and installing a testing laboratory at each filling station to check adulteration.