NMDC’s iron ore production may be affected in the first week of December, with its 6,000-strong workforce threatening to go on strike against the Government’s move to disinvest another 10 per cent in the company.
The strike will be spearheaded by the All India NMDC Workers Federation, which has trade union bodies belonging to different affiliations.
The federation will first observe a one-day token strike on November 10, which will be then followed by a seven-day strike at all its production units from December 1. The federation served the strike notice on the company management today.
“Even after this if the Government does not withdraw the disinvestment proposal, we will launch an indefinite strike. This will be the first indefinite stir by all trade unions against the Government’s move to disinvest cash-rich public sector units,” Gurudas Dasgupta, AITUC General Secretary and President of the federation, told
The iron ore miner currently produces about 60,000 to 65,000 tonnes a day from its mines at Bailadilla and Karnataka, accounting for 40 per cent of the country’s production.
The company is developing two new mines at about Rs 1,500 crore in Bailadila (Chhattisgarh) and the other in Bellary-Hospet region in Karnataka. The strike may affect work on the new mines also.
It will also have an impact on the steel industry, with steel majors, including JSW Steel, Essars and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd, depending on NMDC for their iron ore supplies.
Last month, the company cut its iron ore prices by two to 11 per cent to provide some relief to steel producers.
Globally, iron ore prices are expected to remain under pressure for the next six months. Prices have fallen from an average of about $200 a tonne a year ago to about $150 six months ago and below $100 a tonne last month.
amitmitra@thehindu.co.in