New Delhi: A day-long strike by employees at state-run Coal India Ltd (CIL) on September 24 affected production by about 56 percent, a senior company official said on Wednesday. The strike call was issued by five employee unions who claimed to represent over half-a-million workers of Coal India and Singareni Collieries.
The agitation was meant to register protest against the Ministry of Coal's decision to allow 100 percent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in coal mining.
"Strike is total with a complete stop in production, transportation and dispatch of coal from all mines — Assam to Singareni," All India Coal Workers' Federation General Secretary DD Ramanandan had said on September 24.
The PSU, which is responsible for nearly 80 percent of the country's total coal output, is likely to lose around 1.5 million tonne of production due to the agitation.
Unions that were part of the one-day strike included Indian National Mineworkers' Federation (INTUC), Hind Khadan Mazdoor Federation (HMS), Indian Mineworkers' Federation (AITUC), All India Coal Workers' Federation (CITU) and All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU).
CIL accounts for over four-fifths of India's coal production and employs about 3,00,000 people. The company registered a 30 percent attendance on September 24 because of the strike. CIL produced a total of 466,000 tonnes of coal on the day. On average, it produces 1.05 million tonnes of coal on a normal day, the source said.