The first round has gone to the unions of Coal India.
After a false start last week, the state-owned monopoly reached an agreement with its mining workers on Monday over the sensitive issue of perks and allowances.
It has decided to dole out 6% more than the earlier-agreed 25% minimum guaranteed benefit on gross wages as on June 30, 2011.
“The final MCWA-IX pact would be signed tomorrow. Among the new benefits extracted by us during today’s meeting is a special allowance of 4% of basic salary as substitute of perks to executives. Another is converting the fixed sum as house rent allowance in non-urban areas to 2% of basic,” SQ Zama, secretary general of Indian National Mine Workers’ Federation, affiliated to INTUC, told DNA after the conclusion of the final negotiations in Delhi.
The pact has paved the way for formal signing of National Coal Wage Agreement-IX on Tuesday, which will be effective July 2011 with a 5-year tenure.
The company had earlier hinted it won’t back down from its stated position. At one point, Coal India chairman had said the management would not agree to any hike in allowances and perquisites.
The trade unions, however, seemed to have their own designs.
Apparently, some of the concessions granted this time around didn’t have any mention before.
There are some decisions still to be taken on some minor outflows, including post-retirement medical benefits. A committee will explore the possibility of building a pension fund after an actuarial report is submitted.
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