With the workers’ unions of Coal India Ltd (CIL) failing to find a common ground on their demand for a salary hike, the company management has now asked them to come up with a common minimum list of demands when they meet again later next month.

“We held a meeting with the five trade unions. But there was no unanimity in their wake hike demands. So we have asked them to come up with common minimum demand for wage increment,” the CIL Chairman, Mr N.C. Jha, said.

“After receiving common demands from the trade unions, we will evaluate and see what can be done,” Mr Jha added.

The public sector firm is meeting again with the five trade unions — INTUC, BMS, CITU, HMS and AITUC —— later next month to further deliberate on the wage hike.

At the beginning of this month, the workers’ union of CIL called off a proposed three-day strike in support of their demand for an early revision in wages after receiving assurances from the management on early settlement of the issue.

Five leading unions at Coal India had in July threatened to go on a three-day strike demanding the early revision of their wages.

Earlier, the Maharatna firm had said the trade unions at their last meeting a couple of days ago had raised separate demand for salary hike ranging from 100 per cent to 500 per cent.

The current average basic salary of a Coal India worker is about Rs 8,320 per month. At present, Coal India and its subsidiaries spend about Rs 20,000 crore on salaries every year.

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