Union escalates benefits dispute with ONGC
Mumbai's deputy chief labour commissioner, Sanjay Dabi, is facing calls from The Petroleum Employees Union (PEU) to intervene in its dispute with ONGC.
The PEU accuses ONGC of failing to uphold its commitment to compensate offshore workers who worked beyond their usual duty cycle during the 2024 monsoon. On January 29 (2025), the PEU wrote to Dabi, claiming that while the union upheld its end of the agreement, ONGC management failed to conduct any meetings to negotiate financial benefits.
Copies are marked to senior ONGC officials, including the director HR and executives in Delhi and Mumbai, urging them to resolve the matter at the earliest. The PEU formally requested ONGC's HR director, Manish Patil, to address its concerns on November 12 (2024), claiming that ONGC has unilaterally determined a compensation amount and reflected it in employee pay slips without any discussion, undermining the conciliation process and setting a dangerous precedent for future employer-employee relations.
"Management's approach is rude and inconsiderate towards employees," wrote PEU general secretary Santosh Patil. A company source laments that workers supported the organisation in its time of need.
"But now it feels like management does not support us," he stresses. "ONGC management promised to discuss the remuneration for the extra service that the employees put in, but instead of holding the meeting, they directly transferred overtime amounts to employee's accounts; we have yet to hear anything from management about it."
A rival union source adds it never supported conciliation. "We knew this was not a one-time practice," he says.
"We knew that once we agreed, ONGC would implement it for all monsoon seasons." He adds that his union was not opposed to working extra days but wanted ONGC to follow labour laws and compensate employees.
"Carrying out duty for 21 days (instead of 14) means seven days of overtime that ONGC needs to pay," we hear. "In addition to the overtime, ONGC also needs to provide time off in lieu of the additional days worked; ONGC didn't agree to these demands."