Coal news and updates

CIL hopeful of averting 3-day strike

September 18: The Coal India Ltd (CIL) board is hopeful that it will be able to dissuade the trade unions from holding a three-day strike which is scheduled for September 23-25.

"There have been three rounds of discussions between the trade unions and the Ministry of Coal (MoC)... Also, the management has held discussions with the unions on August 5 and 20. Another meeting is slated for September 20. We are trying to sort out the issues and hope to clinch the deal. Most probably, the strike will not take place," company director (personnel) R Mohan Das said at the 39th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the company in Kolkata on September 18.

Earlier, the management had said that the strike is likely to cause a production loss of around 3.6 million tons (mt) and will affect its production performance for the month of September.

The unions have called the strike to oppose the government's move to disinvest 5% stake in the coal miner. While the government and CIL board claimed that the unions had agreed to a 5% stake sale (instead of the previously planned 10%), the unions said they are against even a 1% divestment and will hold the strike to oppose the move.