Trade unions have called for a nationwide strike against the government’s move to open up the coal sector to private players.
Coal India trade unions will go ahead with the proposed three-day strike on Thursday, as talks with the government on opening up the sector to private players have failed, the union leader said on Wednesday.
A virtual meeting was held between Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi and representatives of trade unions, said Nathulal Pandey, President of the HMS-affiliated Hind Khadan Mazdoor Federation.
“The minister did not accept the demand of unions to withdraw the decision of commercial mining. Therefore, unions have no other remedy left rather to continue with the decision of three-day strike from 2-4 July 2020,” Pandey said.
During the meeting, the Minister told union leaders that commercial coal mining was necessary because Coal India alone would not be able to meet the country’s demand for coal, Pandey said.
Joshi, however, assured the unions that the government would like to strengthen Coal India.
Pandey appealed to all coal workers and central trade unions to make the strike a success.
On Tuesday, Joshi appealed to trade unions not to go on strike and said that there were no plans either to dislodge the PSU or to dislodge the CMPDIL Coal India arm.
Trade unions called for a national strike against the government’s move to open up the coal sector to private players and to separate the exploration, planning and design arm of the state-run firm CMPDIL from the company, among others.
Coal India accounts for more than 80% of domestic coal production.
