Miners owing allegiance to the AITUC-affiliated Singareni Collieries Workers' Union returned to coal production work from the first shift on Friday morning as per the decision of the union, which called off the strike on Thursday night following successful talks with Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy in Hyderabad.
Kiran's promise
It may be noted here that the union had called off the strike after four days in response to an assurance given by the Chief Minister to resolve their demands through discussions. According to the company sources, in all, 29,071 miners attended duties during the first shift on Friday.
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However, a significant number of 7,181 miners remained absent. As many as 2,328 miners were on leave.
A leader of the recognised trade union attributed the high rate of absenteeism on Friday to the inability of some miners who, he said, remained at far off places at the time of calling off the strike and could not reach the place of their work before the first shift.