 "Around 12,000 employees at Neyveli Lignite go on indefinite strike")
Around 12,000 employees of Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) have gone on an indefinite strike since Monday night demanding a wage hike.
The strike was called by 13 trade unions yesterday after talks with the management broke down. The decision to go on strike was taken after a Joint Action Council meet of trade unions including CITU, INTUC, AITUC and AIADMK union on Sunday.
The unions said the management is sticking to its stand of a 10% wage hike. The unions are demanding a 24% hike. Wage revision in the public sector giant is implemented once every five years. However, the last revision was in 2007.
Earlier when the unions had called for a strike, NLC Chairman and Managing Director B Surender Mohan had called it "illegal", saying "negotiations" were still on.
R Ramachandran, deputy general manager, NLC told reporters that around 1,600 Central Industrial Security Force and police personnel were deployed at the mines, thermal power station and the company offices for security reasons in view of the strike.
He also claimed that about 6,000 engineers and officers were not taking part in the strike.
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While the employees are claiming that power production to the tune of 2,400 mega watt (MW) will be affected every day, the management says operations will not be affected as contract workers have not joined the strike.
The Madras High Court had last month restrained the employees from going on a strike. The order was issued after the management approached the Court against the unions.
In its petition, the company had said that it is in public interest that a public utility service company like NLC, is not unjustly or illegally prevented from functioning normally owing to the illegal acts of few Unions/Associations.
NLC has three thermal power stations which generate 3,000 MW, which is shared between states in the Southern Region.