Strike threat not alarming, to initiate dialogue shortly: CIL

Says mining through contractors will remain normal

Coal mining major Coal India today said the impact of the day-long strike call by four major trade unions on November 24 will not be "alarming". "We will try that the strike does not takes place and will initiate a dialogue shortly. We think the impact will not be alarming. Mining through contractors will remain normal," Coal India director R Mohan Das told PTI.

The CIL management was banking on the possibility that Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh backed by the BJP would boycott the strike and its supporters might join work. Coal India sources said BMS has influence in South Eastern Coalfields, Western Coalfields and partially in the Central Coalfields.

Four other trade unions affiliated to INTUC, HMS, CITU and AITUC had served a notice for one-day token strike on November 24, demanding scraping of the enabling clause from the Coal Mines Ordinance-2014, which allows commercial mining by private companies and divestment of at least 10 per cent stake in public sector miner among others.

Other trade unions, however, remained optimistic that despite BMS not being a signatory to the notice, they would support the strike call. Coal India, which employs around 3.5 lakh people and accounts for 80 per cent of domestic coal production, had experienced labour trouble on several occasions, hindering its productivity.

The company was unable to meet its production target in the last few years. CIL's average production is about 1.5 million tonnes a day and it missed the output target for the fifth consecutive month of the current fiscal producing 34.88 million tonnes of coal in September, against the targeted 36.17 million tonnes.