Coal India brass threaten stir

Coal India’s woes refuse to die.

A token strike by workers on Monday left it poorer by about 1 million tonne. But worse may be ahead as its officers threaten an indefinite strike.

Coal Mines Officers’ Association of India, the only body representing the management cadre of the state-owned company, has written to the chairman that its members may go on mass leave on November 15 followed by “indefinite strike any day thereafter” if their set of demands are not met.

The union starts its agitation programme on Friday, including demonstration at all the offices of its subsidiaries, followed by a three-day relay hunger strike in front of Coal India head office in Kolkata October 17-19.

Among the key demands of the officers is implementation of performance related pay (PRP), due since 2007-08.

The officers’ absence would impact coal production, said a Coal India official. Though they don’t undertake mining operations directly, regulations require them to be compulsorily present at the mining site.

Incidentally, for the year till August, Coal India’s production was 6.7% short of the targeted 163.5 million tonne.