Strike at IOC Bottling Plant continues

TRIPUNITHURA: The ongoing strike of the contract workers at the IOC bottling plant at Uadayamperoor entered the seventh day on Tuesday. The week-long strike has disrupted the distribution of the LPG cylinders in Ernakulam and nearby districts.The compromise talks held on Monday in the presence of Regional Labour Commissioner (RLC) K Kanthaswami failed.Though the company management and the RLC insisted to do as much as possible to put an end to the volatile situation, the contractor denied all compromise moves, the union leaders said. The number of LPG cylinders dispatched from this bottling plant would be reduced by less than half of the usual number of loads dispatched from here as it has been seven days since the strike began.On Tuesday, only 71 loads of LPG cylinders were dispatched to different parts of the state. Normally, 160 loads of LPG cylinders are transported from the plant.At present, the distribution to Ernakulam and Pathanamthitta districts is completely interrupted due to the strike.It will take at least two weeks to retain the normal situation.