Coal India on sticky wicket as union serves strike notice

Opposed to privatisation of mining resource, employees to stay away from work from January 6-10

A five-day strike of its employees next month is likely to put Coal India, already under pressure to meet ballooning demand, on a sticky wicket.

All the five trade unions of Coal India Limited (CIL) - which has a work force of 3,50,000 - have served a notice declaring their intention to go on strike from January 6 through January 10.

"The government has initiated the process to denationalise coal with its recent Bill. We demand that the government immediately stop this process. Until then, this protest will go on," said Ramendra Kumar, secretary, Indian Mine Workers' Federation.

Four of the five unions - Congress-backed Indian National Mineworkers Federation (INMFW), Hind Khadan Mazdoor Federation, the AITUC-controlled Indian Mine Workers' Federation and the coal workers' union of Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh - met in Ranchi on Wednesday to unanimously decide on the five-day strike.

Though members of the All-India Coal Workers Federation, affiliated to Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), was not present at the meeting, it said it would be supporting the strike.

"We have decided to extend our support to the strike. We have also called for a separate strike on January 13," said Jibon Roy, general secretary, All India Coal Workers Federation.

The Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Ordinance, 2014 was brought in October this year in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision cancelling 214 blocks allocations.

Apart from facilitating auctioning of the cancelled coal blocks, the ordinance allowed private players to mine coal and sell it in the open market.

This move has particularly irked the unions.

Earlier this week, the government has passed a Bill replacing the ordinance, which has been seen as a first step to open up commercial mining of coal to the private sector. So far, the right to commercial mining was reserved for Coal India.