Coal India unions set to strike work; may serve notice today

The strike, scheduled for the first fortnight of next month, could derail the govt's Rs 40,000-cr divestment plan for 2013-14

Trade unions controlling a majority of the workforce of Coal India Ltd (CIL), the world’s largest coal miner, have decided to go on a strike against the government proposal to offload a five per cent stake in the company. With a consensus staying elusive despite multiple rounds of discussions, the unions are likely to send a formal strike notice to the company’s management on Tuesday.

The strike, scheduled for the first fortnight of next month, could derail the government’s efforts to meet the Rs 40,000-crore disinvestment target for the current financial year and disrupt the Kolkata-based miner’s plan to ramp up its stagnating production. The company alone meets more than half of India’s commercial energy supply.



“A strike is inevitable. All the unions have decided. A formal notice will most likely be served on Tuesday. No offer came from the management at today’s meeting, which remained inconclusive,” Jibon Roy, general secretary, All-India Coal Workers Federation (AICWF), affiliated to the Left-leaning Centre for Indian Trade Unions (Citu) told Business Standard.

Leaders of five trade unions, representing more than 90 per cent of the state-run company’s 383,000 workforce, met CIL management over the issue on Monday. This followed Sunday’s joint meeting of union leaders where the blueprint for further action to protest the proposal of stake sale was prepared.

Besides Citu, the unions include the All India Trade Union Congress (Aituc), Indian National Trade Union Congress (Intuc), Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) and Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS).

Roy said the plan was to serve the notice on Monday but one of the five unions asked for more time to work out its action plan. Accordingly, the unions worked out three ways — announcing the dates for strike without giving a notice; four unions serving notice immediately and the fifth one following later; and Citu serving notice alone and others following. “All the union members are eager to go on a strike together,” he said.

The call for strike has come at a time CIL is battling an output growth slide, which threatens its financial health. The company posted 16.5 per cent decline in profits to Rs 3,731 crore for the quarter ended June, mainly because of a jump in employee benefit expenses, rising fuel cost and a slump in e-auction sales. Each day of strike could cost CIL Rs 200 crore worth of output.

CIL was listed on the bourses in 2010 through an Initial Public Offer in which the government raised Rs 15,199 crore by selling a 10 per cent stake. The government currently holds 90 per cent in the company. The trade unions have been saying they will not tolerate any disturbance in the 90 per cent versus 10 per cent ownership structure. Workers have also been opposing a proposed restructuring of the company to infuse transparency and efficiency in operations.




HIGH STAKES

• Jun 24: Unions adopt joint resolution to oppose 10% stake sale
• Jul 6: Unions hand out a letter of protest to the coal minister, who says he will take up the matter with the PM
• Jul 23: Govt sticks to the divestment plan. Unions propose other options like share buyback; also raise other demands like cancelling coal blocks allotted to private firms
• Jul 30: Coal minister offers to restrict the stake sale to 5%; unions divided on the offer
• Aug 4: Unions meet in Ranchi, decide to serve a strike notice
• Aug 5: Unions’ meeting with CIL management in Delhi inconclusive; it is decided a strike notice will be served within two days