Trade unions put Coal India on notice for one-day token strike

Four central trade unions have given Coal India (CIL) a notice for a one-day token strike in February/March. CIL said efforts are being made to reconcile the same. "Representatives of four central trade unions in the coal industry such as INTUC, HMS, AITUC & CITU have submitted a joint notice for resorting to agitation and a one-day token strike in February/March 2016," the coal behemoth said in a filing to BSE.

The proposed agitation is expected to hit production and despatch, it added. Demanding withdrawal of the process of de-nationalisation or disinvestment of the world's largest coal miner, the unions of state-owned Coal India and Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) had said they would go for a one-day token strike in March and four-day 'work to rule' agitation in the same month. "The representatives of central trade unions such as BMS, INTUC, HMS, AITUC and CITU met in Nagpur today and reviewed the status of demand... it has been decided to serve agitation or strike notice," the notice letter to the Coal Ministry had said. The charter of demands also included increasing import duty on coal and rationalising pricing accordingly. In November last year, the Cabinet approved 10 percent stake sale in Coal India.

The government currently owns 79.65 percent stake in the company. The 10 percent stake sale in Coal India is likely to be deferred to the next fiscal as the government wants to wait for market stability for a better valuation, an official had earlier said.