Coal India’s unions have agreed to call for a three-day strike on 2 July to protest against the government’s decision to open up the sector to private competition.
Five unions, representing 90% of the company’s 2.8 Lakh workers, have decided to send a strike notice.
“At a meeting, unions have decided to serve the notice to the government on June 18 when the centre plans to initiate the coal block auction process for commercial mining,” said D D Ramanandan, president of the All India Coal Workers Federation.
Unions have threatened to strike despite the government ‘s assurances that it wants to strengthen, not privatize, the company. They also include a ban on private mining, fair pay for contract workers, and jobs for family members of medically incompetent employees. Coal India ‘s spokesperson did not respond to ET’s emailed queries.
At present, CIL and power plants have an all-time high stock. CIL ‘s stock is 77 million tonnes, while another 50 million tons of dry fuel are stored in power plants.
Four of the trade unions — All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) and the Indian Trade Union Center (CITU)—have observed June 11 as a black day for the coal industry across the country.
