The Secretariat of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) has issued the following statement to the media:

Despite repeated resolute united opposition by Coal workers against any step by Government to denationalize coal industry, disinvestment, allowing commercial coal mining by domestic or foreign private companies, undermine the public sector character of Coal India Limited (CIL), any step to restructure the CIL; the Government of India has promulgated “The Coal Mines (Special Provision) Ordinance to primarily denationalize coal industry through Section 28 of the Act. The Ordinance provided power to the Government to allow private companies to enter into private commercial mining. This provision amounts to steps towards denationalization of coal industry in our country.

It is a matter of humiliation and indignation that the Government has atrociously violated the assurance given to the trade unions in CIL for discussion on the matter and gone for unilateral action totally ignoring the united highly appreciable stand of the unions. In the meantime outsourcing/contractualisation/private agency system in coal mining has been expanding in the industry without paying any heed to the opposition of the coal workers.

CITU has been extending active support to the struggles of the coal workers from time to time on the aforementioned demands. CITU is of the firm opinion that the coal workers have been demonstrating important sense of national responsibility for safeguarding the energy interest of the country by opposing the disastrous acts of the Government.

In view of this, CITU strongly feels that the Government has pushed the coal workers into a situation under which there is no other alternative but to go for strike. CITU, therefore, extends full support to the decision of Coal workers to go for one day’s Token Strike on 24th November 2014 to put pressure on the Government to withdraw the derogatory ordinance and protect the national energy assets and to safeguard the public sector entity of Maharatna CIL

CITU appeals to each and every regular and contractual coal workers as well as the employees of CIL to actively join the proposed strike action and compel the Government to give up their scheme of handing over the coal sector of the country to domestic and foreign private coal companies which is bound to not only destroy the national coal industry but also will have adverse cascading impact on the entire energy sectors in the country. CITU further appeals to all public sector industry workers to extend solidarity support to the strike action. CITU Secretariat directs all concerned State Committees to mobilize all out support to the campaign and the strike action.

Issued by

(Swadesh Dev Roye)

Secretary