New Delhi: Coal PSU executives currently employed with Coal India Limited (CIL) and Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) and coal pensioners are preparing to stage a day-long demonstration on October 30 outside the CIL headquarters in Kolkata and the SCCL office in Hyderabad if their demands are not fulfilled, PSU Watch has learnt. The demonstration will be held under the aegis of All India Association of Coal Executives (AIACE) and All India Coal Pensioners Association (AICPA), said PK Singh Rathor, convenor of AIACE and AICPA. “… working and retired coal executives and coal pensioners from different parts of the country, under the banner of All India Association of Coal Executives (AIACE) and All India Coal Pensioners Association (AICPA) have decided to stage a demonstration on 30/10/2023,” said Rathor in a statement.

Why are coal executives & pensioners holding a demonstration?

The two organisations which represent executives working with coal PSUs and pensioners have made several representations to the government and the CIL management for the resolution of pay conflict arising out of the National Coal Wage Agreement (NCWA-XI), restructuring of Coal Mines Pension Scheme and smooth implementation of Contributory post-retirement Medical Scheme for executives and non-executives retired employees. The pay conflict has become a pressing issue for executives in coal PSUs as after wage revision agreement, the salary of CIL’s non-executive workforce has surpassed that of certain grades of executive workforce. The pensioners have been demanding pension restructuring because there is a sizeable chunk of retirees who are earning a pension of Rs 1,000 per month because pensions have not been revised for the last 24 years.

AIACE and AICPA had earlier given the management time until September 30 to initiate action on their demands. “If the management fails to initiate the processes required to meet our demands by September 30, then we will serve a notice in the first week of October,” Rathor told PSU Watch.

Prior to this proposed demonstration, the AIACE and AICPA also organised a dharna in Decemeber 2019, July 2022 and December 2022 at Jantar-Mantar, New Delhi, and in March 2023 at Varanasi. “This will be the first time that a demonstration will be held by us in front of the CIL and SCCL office,” said Rathor.

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