Bhubaneswar, June 26: The clamour against the UPA government?s decision to divest 10 per cent stake in Nalco became shriller today with the entire staff at the aluminium major?s corporate hub here boycotting work to register their protest.

Today?s agitation came after similar strikes on Friday and Saturday at the company?s smelter plant in Angul and alumina refinery in Damanjodi. ?Not a single soul from the 450-odd staff at the corporate office came to work today,? said L.N. Patnaik, chairman of the central coordination committee of trade unions in the company.

Members of the Biju Janata Dal student?s wing also protested at the company headquarters.

At the Damanjodi refinery, work was affected for three hours after the BJD called a 12-hour dawn-to-dusk bandh in Koraput to protest the company?s disinvestment.

BJD workers led by Pottangi MLA Jayaram Pangi obstructed entry of workers into the refinery. ?We have shut down alumina production for 12 hours but kept the potline hot,? said executive director (mines and refinery) P.K. Routray. He said the company managed to keep the plant alive with only 60 workers.

The plant has around 2,300 employees and produces over 4,000 tonnes of alumina daily. Routray said mining operations were also affected with employees of that unit joining the strike.

The bandh took its toll on vehicular movement as well. ?We have not allowed men or material to enter the plant today,? president of the Nalco Land Displaced Employees? Union Krutibas Raju told The Telegraph over phone.

At the smelter plant in Angul, workers were prevented from attending duty till 11 am. Angul MLA Rajnikant Singh held a meeting there along with local workers of the BJD.

?The agitators conducted a meeting at the smelter plant?s gate from this morning as a result of which general shift workers couldn?t get in at 8 am. They, however, came in three hours later. Production was not much affected,? said executive director (smelter and power) U.B. Patnaik.