A section of CIL and SCCL workers will go on 5-day strike from tomorrow even as the government has called a meeting of trade union leaders on Tuesday morning in a last-ditch effort to avert the agitation.
The five trade unions including INTUC and AITUC, have given a strike call to press for their demands including roll- back of the "process of denationalising of coal sector" and stopping "disinvestment and restructuring" of Coal India.
Meanwhile, Coal India Ltd has already stepped up supplies to the power plants, which have been facing fuel shortages, to tide over the likely disruption of supplies due to the proposed strike.
"CIL is suppling extra volumes of coal to the power plants and the Railways is fully cooperating with the coal PSU," an official said.
The workers and employees of CIL and Singareni Collieries Company Ltd will go on 5-day strike from tomorrow, the Indian National Mineworkers' Federation said in a statement today.
The Coal Ministry's decision to call the meeting of the leaders of the five trade unions tomorrow has been described as "childish" by the Federation.
The strike is likely to result in production loss of up to 1.5 million tonnes a day and may hit supplies to power plants which are already grappling with fuel shortages.
CIL, which accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal production, has a workforce of over 3 lakh.
All five major trade unions of the coal PSU - BMS, INTUC, AITUC, CITU and HMS - had boycotted a meeting called by Coal Minister Piyush Goyal last week.
Meanwhile, electricity workers union EEFI has extended support to the strike call.
"Electricity Employees Federation of India conveys solidarity to united struggle of coal workers to protect the interest of people of India as well coal workers," EEFI General Secretary Prasanta N Chowdhury said.
Electricity workers will organise agitation and demonstration all over the country to impress upon the government to drop the path of confrontation with "the workers to appease the capitalists through reintroduction of slavery in the quest of cheap labour", the Federation said in a statement.
Chowdhury claimed that there were about three lakh workers associated with the Federation across the country.
The union said that Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2014 introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 19 is another similar step to "curb the right to electricity of people of India making broad way for private capitalists in power sector towards super profit without investment".
