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Indian oil workers end crippling strike

  • Story Highlights
  • Workers ended strike after govt. threats to suspend, fire or arrest workers
  • Impact of the strike had been felt across all major cities in India
  • 45,000 workers walked off the job at govt.-controlled companies Wednesday
  • Government had refused their demands for higher pay
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NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Facing intense government pressure, Indian oil workers agreed to call off a three-day strike and go back to work, the Oil and Petroleum Ministry announced.

Long queues at gas stations have become a common sight across India in recent days.

Long queues at gas stations have become a common sight across India in recent days.

The workers ended the strike Friday, after the government threatened to suspend, fire or arrest workers who did not return to their jobs.

The impact of the strike had been felt across all major cities in India, including Mumbai and New Delhi, where motorists waited in long lines to purchase fuel. Police had been called in to maintain order at many stations.

Power plants that rely on gas ran out, causing power cuts, and airlines were forced to delay flights.

Some 45,000 workers walked off the job at the government-controlled oil companies Wednesday after the government refused their demands for higher pay.

India's Home Minister P. Chidambaram had called on workers to end the strike immediately, saying it was "placing an intolerable burden on the people."

He had said the army could be called in if the crisis deepened.

Meanwhile, a separate nationwide strike by truck operators entered its sixth day, with some truck operators saying arrested strikers had to be released before talks could take place, the Press Trust of India reported.

Five All India Motor Transport Congress leaders were arrested Friday on charges of disrupting the supply of commodities, the Indo-Asian News Service reported.

"We will not give up our agitation and will not hold any talks with the government until we are released unconditionally," AIMTC Secretary-General S. Venugopal told the news service.

The AIMTC is demanding a reduction in diesel and tire prices, the Indo-Asian News Service reported.

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On Saturday, the transport minister, Thiru T.R. Baalu, said the government was "ready to discuss" the truck operators' demands, the news service reported.

However, he warned the government could suspend or revoke workers' permits, according to a summary of his remarks released by the government.

-- CNN's Sara Sidner and Bharati Naik contributed to this report.

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