People's Democracy

Coal Workers to Stage Three-Day Strike

ON August 7 forenoon, the All India Coal Workers Federation (AICWF), an affiliate of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), served a notice upon the Coal India management, announcing that it would go in for a three days’ strike in the coal industry against the government’s decision for disinvestment of 10 per cent shares of the Coal India Limited (CIL) and its moves to split the company into a number of independent companies.

According to a press release issued on the day by Basudeb Acharia and Jibon Roy, president and general secretary respectively of the All India Coal Workers Federation, the strike will commence from the first shift on September 19, 2013 and continue till the end of the third shift on September 21.

One may note that the coal industry in India comprises five and a half lakh workers, including the contract workers, and that this happens to be the second largest workforce employed in any organised industry in the country.

Besides the immediate withdrawal of the disinvestment decision and also of the proposal to liquidate the Coal India, the demands charter attached with the strike notice also demanded immediate execution of non-implemented parts of the national level settlements signed in the past, which include a wage agreement with the contract workers.

The August 7 notice and the announcement are parts of the struggle to carry forward the resolve of the united trade union movement in the coal industry on the issues concerned.

On this occasion the All India Coal Workers’ Federation also expressed its happiness over the fact that all the five national level federations functioning in the coal industry had reached unanimity in the course of a meeting in New Delhi on August 5 on the need to oppose to government’s proposal of disinvestment and on asserting their position through a strike. However, one of the national federations was of the view that the trade unions must pursue their position through further talks with the government. The AICWF press release welcomed the suggestion.

The AICWF said it served the notice on August 7 as part of its vision about holding the unity of the workers intact, strengthening their united resolve, and also for arresting the government’s pursuit.

The All India Coal Workers Federation has urged upon all the coal workers through the length and breadth of the country to use the instrument of the proposed three days strike’s announcement for defending their unity, for defending the coal industry and also for defending the pride of coal workers as a component of the patriotic working class of India.