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Coal India Ltd workers plan to join Sept 2 strike

Coal India Ltd workers will go on a nation-wide strike on September 2 to mark their protest against further divestment and strategic sale in the sector. “We have received a communication of notice... for strike on September 2. Efforts are being made for conciliation process,” Coal India said in a regulatory filing on Saturday. “In case they resort to strike, it will affect product and dispatch of coal.” 

In September last year, a majority of about 4 lakh coal workers across the country had gone on strike called by trade unions, which hit the production level in a big way. The strike call was given by major trade unions like INTUC, AITUC and CITU to pitch for their demands that included opposition to any further stake sale in Coal India.

Nearly 5 lakh bank union workers and officers are set to join the strike called by trade unions on September 2 to protest against what they call “anti-people policies of the Modi government and labour reforms”. Earlier, on Friday, as many as 10 central trade unions have decided to go ahead with their call for a 1-day pan-India strike on September 2, with no positive response from the government on their 12-point charter of demand. “The 10 central trade unions have decided to go on strike on September 2, 2016, in a meeting of the coordination committee held yesterday,” All India Trade Union Congress Secretary D L Sachdev said.

“The mandatory 2-week notice in the case of essential services like transport and power has already been served by the local units of our unions earlier this week. We are expecting over 10 crore people to participate in the strike.”  

However, RSS-affiliate Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh is not part of this joint declaration as the next meeting with ministerial panel on labour issues headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on August 22 is awaited. The exclusive meeting between Jaitley-led ministerial panel and BMS representatives to discuss its demand remained “inconclusive” earlier this week on August 16. 

The other trade unions were not called for the meeting. It was the first meeting of the ministerial panel with a central trade union over the 12-point charter of demands in almost a year. It had met trade unions on August 26-27, 2015.

“We have decided to go on strike on September 2, 2016. We have been called for another round of meeting with the group of ministers. If something positive happens, then we will see (decide otherwise),” said BMS General Secretary Virjesh Upadhyay. 

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