The one-day nation-wide strike by coal industry employees was ‘almost total', trade unions said on Monday.
The strike, called by five Central trade unions, including the Congress-backed INTUC, was in protest against the Coal India management's offer of Rs 17,000 as bonus against Rs 23,500 demanded by the employees.
“It is not only a question of bonus. The managements have hurt the dignity of workers by offering only 13 per cent of gross profits compared with 39 per cent distributed as dividend to its shareholders, bulk of them foreign investors,” said Mr Jibon Roy, General Secretary, All-India Coal Workers' Federation, affiliated to CITU.
The strike was largely peaceful, Mr Roy said, and added that if the managements fail to respond, the workers would consider a strike of 72 hours or more.
The nation-wide strike has hit the industry at a time when shortage of coal supply is already affecting power distribution in many States.
CIL loss at Rs 120 crore
Our Kolkata Bureau reports: Coal production was “substantially affected” today as nearly 75 per cent of four lakh employees of Coal India Ltd observed a strike demanding higher bonus, according to a company official.
Though official figures are not available, unofficial estimates suggest that the company has lost production worth well over Rs 120 crore during the day.
Though CIL maintains that the company's current production status does not support payment of a higher bonus, the Director, Personnel and Industrial Relations, of CIL, Mr R. Mohan Das said that the coal major would invite the unions for further discussion on the issue shortly.
The issue is also likely to feature in the scheduled review meeting between the CIL top brass and the Coal Ministry in Delhi this week.