Thousands of workers at the Indian Oil Corporation refinery in Panipat, Haryana, went on strike beginning February 23, 2026. They faced a police lathi charge, and the Central Industrial Security Force fired into the air to control the crowd.
The workers contend that while they are employed by one of the largest public sector undertakings in the country, they are being sorely exploited. They work 12 hours a day but are paid only for the standard eight hours. They are permitted only two days of leave a month, which means they work two Sundays every month. Wages are frequently delayed, fraud is perpetrated in the name of Provident Fund contributions, and workers are denied even basic facilities such as toilets at the workplace.
The administration, management, and contractors have, according to a statement released by the Mazdoor Adhikar Sangharsh Abhiyan, all retreated and issued statements. The workers say the assurances they have received so far are vague, and the struggle will continue until their demands are met.
A fact-finding team that arrived at the site on February 24 was told that the immediate trigger for the strike was the death of two workers in an accident at the refinery two days earlier. A third worker survived but had to have his leg amputated. Workers who had long endured exploitation were further incensed by the insensitivity shown by management and contractors in the wake of the accident.
Jammers have been installed to block internet access among the protesters, making images of the strike difficult to obtain. Little information has reached the outside world, and news has barely spread beyond the refinery gates. The fact-finding team noted that an FIR has been registered against 2,500 unidentified workers, while no proceedings have been initiated against management or contractors despite the negligence that caused the accident.
The IOC refinery at Panipat has been operational since 1998 and currently employs over 50,000 workers across various units. The fact-finding team describes it as among the largest integrated refineries in South Asia. Nearly all of the workers are on contractual arrangements with no permanent employment. Contractual work has become the norm not only in the private sector but within the government sector as well, leaving workers with little security and few benefits — conditions under which exploitation intensifies and basic rights are routinely ignored.
The new labour codes that came into effect in November 2025 have made the contract system even more perilous for workers, extending the "fixed-term employment" category across all sectors. In one stroke, the government has effectively dismantled the foundational rights of workers: the eight-hour workday, provident fund protections, and overtime rules. The right to organize and unionize has been curtailed and treated as tantamount to a crime. Panipat may be an early sign of wider worker unrest — one that could spread and intensify as conditions of work come to resemble those of an earlier, darker era.
The demands of the striking workers at the IOCL Refinery in Panipat include strict enforcement of the eight-hour shift; payment of wages between the 1st and 7th of each month, with the full amount due upon completion of 240 days of work; wages paid according to the company's Board Rate with Provident Fund amounts deposited equally and regularly; full company responsibility and proper compensation in the event of a workplace accident; the immediate release of fellow workers detained from the K.K.S. area; overtime paid at double the rate; observance of all national holidays; a fixed monthly duty of 26 working days; and proper toilet facilities and clean drinking water at the workplace.
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