(ET)
Coal India’s unions have called for strike on Aug 18 to oppose private competition. Last week, they observed a three-day strike that executives said led to a revenue loss of about Rs 400 crore. A company executive said that during the strike, sales fell 39 per cent. The company was unable to sell 2.6 million tonnes, which is worth at least Rs 400 crore. The company did not respond to ET’s queries.
Unions have called for the next strike on Aug 18, which is the last date for submitting bids for commercial coal mining. D D Ramanandan, president All India Coal Workers Federation affiliated to Centre of Indian Trade Unions affiliated to CITU said workers’ representatives would appeal to people and panchayats that they should not give up their land to private parties.
“We will ensure no private players are allowed entry in any of the blocks on offer. Unions have also decided to call strikes on every important date with respect to commercial mining as the government did not accept our demands. Our protests will continue,” he said.
