CIL union unhappy with 25% wage hike

Cola India, the world’s largest coal miner, has agreed in principle to increase wages of workers by 25 per cent. However, the workers are unhappy and said they would take up the matter in the next meeting of the wage negotiation committee on January 27.

“The management had decided to settle the talks on 25 per cent rise in the last meeting. The workers’ unions did not agree on this. There would be problems in the next meeting unless the management brings about rationalisation and parity in wages of workers versus executives,” Jibon Roy, general secretary of the All India Coal Workers’ Federation (AICWF), affiliated to left-backed Centre for Indian Trade Unions, told Business Standard.

The unions have been demanding an increase in post-retirement benefits to 30 per cent of the basic salary as against 21 per cent available now. “Also, while executives are given a coal mine allowance of seven per cent, workers get none. This has created a serious disparity. We are demanding that the minimum wage of permanent workers should be given to contract workers,” he said.

The state-owned miner is India’s largest listed employer, with a total employee strength of 3,83,000, comprising 3,63,000 workers and 20,000 executives. In addition, around 2,00,000 workers are employed on contract. Wages for workers are revised every five years, after multiple rounds of discussion in a joint bipartite consultative committee (JBC). The new wage agreement has to come into effect from July 1, 2011.

The minimum basic monthly salary of a permanent worker is Rs 8,360. CIL said unions have agreed on a 25 per cent increase. “This would translate into an additional annual outgo of Rs 4,000 crore for the company,” said a top official, who was present at the JBC meetings held on January 9, 10 and 11. He said the company was hopeful of signing a final agreement with workers in the fifth round of talks later this month.

CIL had increased wages by 24 per cent last time, which was an outgo of Rs 2,500 crore for the company. This time, the company had offered a rise of 10 per cent when the talks started, while the workers’ unions were demanding a 50 per cent hike. The talks were between the Congress-backed Indian Natio-nal Trade Union Congress, Citu and the Aituc, Hind Mazdoor Sabha, BJP-backed Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and the management of CIL and Singareni collieries.

Shares of Coal India jumped five per cent, or Rs 16.35, to Rs 342 on the National Stock Exchange after the miner said it would sign a five-year agreement with its worker unions to increase wages by 25 per cent. This was the stock’s highest single-day percentage gain since July 27.