The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Employees union anniversary

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 13, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Employees union anniversary

Staff Reporter

CHENNAI: The Indian Oil Employees Union (IOEU) celebrated its 40th anniversary at the Kamaraj Arangam in Teynampet here on Saturday and Sunday.

T. Pandian, CPI secretary, Tamil Nadu, A. Soundararajan, CITU general secretary, Tamil Nadu, Kundrakudi Ponnambalar Adikalar and N. Ram, editor-in-chief, The Hindu , offered their felicitations on Saturday.

The IOEU claims to be the sole union that represents both blue and white-collared employees. Speakers felicitated Union founder general secretary T. S. Rengarajan for being at the forefront of several movements on issues ranging from working people to foreign policy.

Oil firms' clout

In his speech, Mr. Pandian traced the history of petroleum products, the clout oil companies enjoy today and their impact on international relations. He urged Union members to remain united and oppose all attempts to privatise public assets.

Kundrakudi Ponnambalar talked about the privatisation of education and its grave consequences.

"The Indo-U.S. nuclear deal contains several positives only because of the sustained pressure exerted by progressive forces and scientists on the Government," Mr. Ram said. He asked Union members to understand the implications of the entry of private players in the sector in India.

Mr. Soundararajan appealed to the members to strengthen the Union movement by involving unorganised workers as well.

He announced the Centre for Indian Trade Union's plans to hold campaigns in rural areas to enable re-organisation of workers.

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