Coal India to pay Rs 6,000 cr to staff

Coal India Ltd will have to pay around Rs 6,000 crore to its 560,000 employees under an agreement reached with five workers' federations.

Dearness allowance for coal workers will be 100 per cent neutralised to the Consumer Price Index as part of an understanding reached today.

"The question of making the Joint Bipartite Committee for Coal Industry agreement applicable to the entire industry was agreed to in principle ," a joint statement said.

Workers employed in the captive (private) coal mines, including those working in mines operated by Tata Steel and Indian Iron and Steel Co, will not be covered under the agreement that was arrived at after prolonged deliberations. They had boycotted the negotiations by JBCCI.

"The notification issued by the government earlier was applicable to all coal employees but since the operators of captive mines decided to keep away, this decision does not apply to them," said MK Pandhe, general secretary, CITU and president, All-India Coal Workers' Federation.

Workers employed in Bharat Coking Coal Ltd and Eastern Coalfields will also be covered under the agreement. The two CIL subsidiaries have been incurring losses The two sides also agreed that bonus to the workers would not be linked to attendance though it would be jointly monitored by the management and trade unions.

The coal workers had been pleading against a Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion guideline which said that those earning more than Rs 6,500 a month would be given 75 per cent neutralisation.

"Eighty-five per cent of workers in the coal sector earn above Rs 6,500 a month and therefore we sought 100 per cent neutralisation," said Pandhe.