 "Coal India unions to strike on Nov 24 to protest privatisation, disinvestment")
“We have always said we will oppose any move towards privatisation. All 350,000 workers will join the strike on November 24,” Jibon Roy, general secretary, All India Coal Workers Federation, affiliated to Centre of Indian Trade Unions or CITU.
The Narendra Modi government has taken the first step towards opening the sector to private players with its recent ordinance on e-auction of blocks.
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The ordinance has inserted a section in the Coal Mines Nationalisation Act of 1973, according to which government and private companies “may carry on coal mining operations in India, in any form either for own consumption, sale or for any other purpose, in accordance with the prospecting licence or mining lease, as the case may be” — paving the way for an end to CIL's monopoly.
“The ordinance says private players can mine and sell coal. We will never accept privatisation of the sector,” Roy said. Besides, the unions have been up in arms against the government's plan to sell 10 per cent stake in CIL, which is expected to fetch the exchequer about Rs 23,000 crore.
The decision to go on strike was taken in a meeting on Friday. Four of the five unions in CIL — Citu-led All-India Coal Workers Federation (AICWF), Indian Mine Workers' Federation (affiliated to AITUC), Congress-backed Indian National Mine Workers Federation (INMFW) and Hind Khadan Mazdoor Federation (affiliated to HMS) — will participate in the strike. Bharatiya Janata Party-backed Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) skipped the meeting. “BMS skipped the meeting, but we hope they will also join the protest,” Roy said.
Surinder Kumar Pandey, BMS leader, told Business Standard that his organisation would take a call on the issue later. “BMS will be meeting in Nagpur on November 5 to discuss what will be our position on both disinvestment and ordinance issue. Only after that we will comment,” he said.