Three-day strike against Coal India on 5 October to hit production

Five central trade unions, including the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), had written to the state-run Coal India Limited (CIL) and Singareni Collieries, warning of a three-day strike commencing on 5 October, against the reversal of the 11th National Coal Wage Agreement (NCWA) award by the coal major.

The joint strike notice, issued jointly by prominent labour organisations like BMS, INTUC, HMS, AITUC, and CITU, expresses concern over the non-payment of wages to the non-executive employees according to the 11th NCWA.
 

“In May 2023, the management of Coal India and Singareni Collieries had adopted the award of the 11th NCWA, consequent upon which wages were paid according to the new agreement. Now, it is believed that the wages for September will be paid according to the 10th NCWA. Hence, we demand that all the non-executive employees shall be paid the new wages,” the letter reads.

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The three-day strike, which would most likely hit coal production, comes at a time when coal supply is already stretched due to high demand. An extended summer has caused the national power demand to remain above 200 gigawatt (GW).

While CIL claims it is meeting the demand, the coal availability at the end of power units has slipped in recent weeks. From 12-14 days of average stock until last month, the stock has now come down to 9-10 days, according to the data available on the National Power Portal.

In August, the coal production from CIL mines stood at 52.3 million tonnes (MT), registering a year-on-year growth of 13.2 per cent over 46.2 MT.

CIL, in its note to the exchanges on Wednesday, had said it has written to the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central). "CIL has requested that since this industry has been declared as a 'Public Utility Service' and uninterrupted production and supply of coal to power plants is essential to ensure electricity generation and supply, to take necessary action and seize the matter under conciliation, in order to safeguard the interest of the company as well as the country," said the letter.

DD Ramanandan, general secretary, All India Coal Workers Federation, says that in contravention to a 2017 circular by the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), the 11th national wage agreement resulted in higher basic pay for non-executive employees than the executive employees, which prompted some executive employees to appeal in the Jabalpur High Court.

“The Jabalpur High Court put a stay on the award and CIL decided to pay the wages according to the previous NCWA award. We had communicated to CIL our intention to go on strike, as the management is clearly backtracking on its promise and should have made suitable arrangements earlier. While CIL on Friday approached the Jabalpur High Court to put its order on hold and asked for a fresh hearing on Monday, the court declined to grant a stay on its order and the next hearing is scheduled for 9 October. In such a scenario, the strike seems inevitable,” Ramanandan added.