The indefinite strike called by five major trade unions — AITUC, CITU, INTUC, BMS and HMS — in pursuit of their demand for implementation of Dependent Employment Scheme (DES) in Singareni Colliers Company Limited (SCCL) evoked mixed response in Kothagudem region on the first day on Thursday.
The impact of the strike was visible in Kothagudem and Yellandu areas. However, it had partial impact in Manuguru and Kothagudem Corporate areas.
In Kothagudem area, around 380 workers, of the total of 495 men on rolls at Venkateshkhani underground mine (VK7 incline), and 369 workers of the total of 465 men on rolls at PVK-5, abstained from duty in the first shift.
Around 351 workers struck work and as many as 204 workers attended duty in the first shift at Gowthamkhani opencast project in Kothagudem.
However, a total of 216 workers of the total 282 workforce in JVR OC-I attended duty recording an attendance of 81.91% in Sattupalli.
The SCCL sources claimed that the strike had a negligible impact in some areas and no bearing on coal production at the mines in Manuguru area and elsewhere in the coal belt region.
The overall attendance percentage in the first shift in the entire Kothagudem region comprising Manuguru area, Yellandu, Kothagudem and Kothagudem corporate area stood at little over 68%, the SCCL sources said.
The strike evoked mixed response in the mines situated in the Yellandu area, known as a stronghold of the Telangana Boggu Gani Karmika Sangham (TGBKS), affiliated to the ruling TRS, which distanced itself from the strike.
A large contingent of police forces were deployed in the vicinity of the mines in Yellandu area as per the request made by the SCCL officials. In Kothagudem, the activists of the CITU, AITUC, INTUC and various other trade unions staged a demonstration at the SCCL head office demanding revival of the scheme.
The company management is making desperate attempts to foil the coal workers’ strike without finding a solution to the long-pending issue of dependent employment in SCCL, charged CITU-affiliated Singareni Collieries Employees’ Union (SCEU) general secretary M. Narasimha Rao.
Speaking to The Hindu , he alleged that the company officials concerned have retained several workers in their respective mines after their stipulated duty hours for extended period of work on Thursday morning by doling out a string of promises, including transferring them to the mines of their choice after the strike.
“Despite the tactics employed by the management to foil the strike, the coal workers actively participated in the strike in Kothagudem region,” he said.
Work continues
After nearly six years, the SCCL miners participated in an indefinite strike.
The last strike was held here in 2011 from September 13 to October 17 as part of Sakala Janula Samme for the cause of separate Telangana State.
In the Ramagundam coal belt region, there was mixed response to the strike with about 60% of coal miners abstaining from duty. The excavation and transportation of coal to NTPC continued with the presence of the rest of the 40% workers in all the 13 underground mines and four open cast projects in the region.
While the leaders of national trade unions went round the coal belt area appealing to the miners to participate in the strike, the TGBKS leaders took the latter to the mines and made them work in support of the government and the management. Also, the management had made all arrangements for the miners to attend their duty by providing lunch and snacks at the worksite.
Management worried
The SCCL officials said they are taking all measures to increase the attendance of the miners by motivating them to produce coal even during the strike period for the betterment of the company. But another nation-wide strike call given by all the trade unions, including the TGBKS, in all the coal mines across India from June 19 to 21 has made the SCCL management worry.
With no headway in the talks between the Coal India Limited and Singareni management at the Joint Bipartite Committee for Coal India (JBCCI) held in the first week of May in New Delhi, the trade unions have given a call to go on a nation-wide strike demanding the implementation of 10th National Coal Wage Agreement for coal workers.
The National Coal Wage Agreement has been due since July 1, 2016.
Strike partial
Adilabad Special Correspondent adds: The strike remained partial in the coal mines in Adilabad. Srirampur Area General Manager Sd. M. Subhan told The Hindu that attendance in all the eight underground mines and the lone open cast mine, besides the Coal Handling Plant, was around 60%. “There was hardly any effect on coal production,” he said. He also thanked all those who attended duty and requested others to also join.
