NLC employees to intensify stir; to stage picketing

Trade unions spearheading the 13-day old indefinite strike by employees of public sector Neyveli Lignite Corporation over wage revision today decided to intensify their agitation with a series of picketing programmes.
A meeting of the Joint Action Council of 13 trade unions at Neyveli, held against the backdrop of failure of the third round talks in New Delhi on July 30, resolved to stage the picketing agitation spread over five days from August 4, its Convenor S.Rajavannian (DMK) said.
Around 13,000 regular employees of NLC are on strike since July 20 demanding wage revision, he claimed.
The third round of talks, convened by Chief Labour Commissioner, was held in New Delhi on July 30 but no headway could be made with the unions and the NLC management sticking to their respective positions. Unions insist on 24 per cent increase while the management offered only ten per cent.

Rajavannian said 13,000 employees would picket the lignite mines on August 4 and 6 and the protest would be staged infront of thermal stations, run by NLC, on August 5 and 7.
The NLC Corporate Office would be picketed on August 10, he told PTI.
Meanwhile, NLC Officials said the lignite mining operations and power generation were not affected by the strike as 6,000 officers and engineers and about 10,000 contract workers were attending to the duties.