Four coal trade unions to strike work on April 16

Indrani Dutta THE HINDU KOLKATTA:, MARCH 13, 2018 

Coal unions oppose move commercial mining | Photo Credit: R_V_Moorthy

CIL, SCCL coal workers plan to strike work; INTUC unit not to join

Four trade unions have announced their decision to observe a day’s strike on April 16, 2018 to protest against commercial mining of coal. The notice was served on Tuesday by the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, the All India Trade Union Congress, the Hind Mazdoor Sabha and the Centre of Indian Trade Unions.

The Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) will not be part of the agitation, but would work on doubling production, athough they are opposed to commercial mining.

‘Notice served’

Ramendra Kumar, general secretary of the AITUC-affiliated Indian Mine Workers Federation said that the strike notice had been served on the Coal Secretary on March 13. “As the government is unwilling to reconsider the decision of commercial coal mining, we have no other option except to go on strike,” the unions said in the notice.

Public sector Coal India Ltd. (CIL) and the joint sector Singareni Collieries Company Ltd. (held by the Centre and the Andhra Pradesh government) would come under the strike purview. About 2.9 lakh workers of CIL and 50,000 workers of SCCL were likely to be covered by the strike, Mr. Kumar said.

The INTUC said it condemned the NDA government’s decision to allow commercial mining to private companies using the relevant clauses of the Coal Mines Special Provision Act, 2015. “This meant that the decision of coal nationalisation was being reversed as CIL and SCCL will die in due course if cheap coal is mined by private companies through slaughter-mining,” the INTUC-affiliated Indian National Mineworkers Federation said in a press release. R.K. Chib, vice-president of the Indian National Mine Workers Federation said that the INMF would not participate in strike, but its members would wear black badges to work.