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TRADE unions organising within state-run Coal India Ltd warned today that they intended to pull members out on a five-day strike in the new year.
The five unions said they were mounting a protest against a government scheme to sell off a stake in the company and end its monopoly in mining and distribution.
“The government has initiated the process to denationalise coal with its recent Bill,” said Indian Mine Workers Federation (IMWF) secretary Ramendra Kumar.
“We demand that the government immediately stop this process.
“Until then, this protest will go on.”
Four of the five unions — the Congress-backed Indian National Mineworkers Federation, Hind Khadan Mazdoor Federation, the All India TUC-controlled IMWF and the coalworkers’ union Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh — met in Ranchi, Jharkhand, on Wednesday to decide on the five-day strike.
Though the All-India Coal Workers Federation, which is affiliated to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), was not present at the meeting, it said it would also be supporting the strike.
In addition, workers will go on a separate strike on January 13 to press for better working conditions, such as a five-day, 35-hour week, said federation general secretary Jibon Roy.
The five-day strike, which will begin on January 6, calls into question supplies from Coal India, which accounts for about 80 per cent of India’s output.
Coal India has a workforce of 350,000, making it the world’s largest coal supplier.
India uses coal to generate more than half of its electricity, but the firm often falls short on output targets, forcing the country to import coal despite it having the world’s fifth-largest coal reserves.
The Coal Mines Ordinance was passed in October this year in the wake of a Supreme Court decision cancelling 214 mining block allocations.
Apart from facilitating auctions of the blocks, it allowed private players to mine coal and sell it in the open market.
The government wants to sell a large chunk of its stake in Coal India to meet its £6.1 billion annual divestment target.
