After observing a day’s strike, coal sector officers have deferred their three-day programme following the recommendation made by the committee of secretaries on their pending wage-related issues.
A statement issued by the Coal Mines Officers’ Association of India said that the strike has been deferred on the basis of assurances given by Chairman, Coal India Ltd, and Director, Personnel and Industrial Relations. The meeting between the CIL officials and CMOAI office bearers started late on Thursday evening and ended in the small hours of Friday.
The issue of performance-related pay has been endorsed by the Committee of Secretaries and will be put up to the Union Cabinet as early as possible. The issue of New Pension Scheme will also be resolved along with the orders on performance-related pay, the association statement said. This was corroborated by the CIL management.
The CIL has estimated that arrears amounting to around Rs.1,800 crore pending since 2007-08 would have to be paid. The annual outgo would be about Rs. 300 crores.
Meanwhile, production of the order of about four lakh tonnes was lost due to the strike. The hit on coal offtake was three lakh tons.
The CMOAI said that on the issue of pay anomaly a maximum of three months has been given to subsidiary companies to resolve the issue. Career growth of CIL executives will be taken up at an exclusive meeting to be held in April.