The Hindu : National : Miners demand wage benefits, threaten strike

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Wednesday, Sep 08, 2004

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Miners demand wage benefits, threaten strike

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 7. Trade union leaders in the coal industry have threatened to go on strike from October 14, unless their demands of wage revision and other benefits are conceded.

They presented their demands to the Minister of State for Coal, Dasari Narayana Rao, on Monday. The miners are demanding a minimum basic wage of Rs. 6,100 and an annual rate of increase of 2.5 per cent. The minimum additional wage increase should be 15 per cent of the basic over and above the interim relief, and the quarterly bonus should not be linked to attendance, they said.

The miners have demanded that the wage fixed by the Joint Bipartite Consultative Committee should be applicable to the entire coal industry, including the private sector units. They have also demanded parity rate for the Coal Miners Provident Fund with the Employees Provident rate of 9.5 per cent for 2003-04 — an increase from 8 per cent to 9.5 per cent.

Shaky financial position

The Coal Ministry sources said though the wage revision has been pending for more than three years, the current financial position of the coal mines would make it difficult to absorb the additional burden. Of the seven public sector coal companies, the Bharat Coking Coal Limited and Eastern Coalfields Limited are in the red. In fact, these companies have sought deferment of payment of arrears because of financial constraints.

Howver, the Central Coalfields Limited has just turned the corner and a new wage package would push it back into the red, the officials said. Some of the small companies such as the Northern Coalfields Limited, the Mahanadi Coalfields Limited, the South-Eastern Coalfields Limited and the Western Coalfields Limited are making modest profits.

With a view to averting the strike, which could result in production loss of 1 million tonnes a day, the Minister of State has asked the Ministry to work out the financial implications of the demands. Another round of consultations with the unions has been scheduled for September 22.

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