Unprecedented Coal Workers’ Strike Against 100% FDI in Mining

New Delhi: Coal India Limited (CIL), which produces and markets around 80% of the total output of dry fuel in the country, is estimated to lose around 2.5 million tonnes as a result of one-day strike against the Centre’s decision of allowing 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in coal mining.

At least 2.7 lakh permanent and 2 lakh contractual employees of the mining major are taking part in the stir, claimed trade union organisations – Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU)-affiliated All India Coal Workers’ Federation (AICWF), All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) and Indian National Mineworkers’ Federation (INTUC).

Six trade unions representing more than half-a-million workers of CIL and Singareni Collieries have called for the strike, seeking withdrawal of the central government’s move.

“Today’s strike is a complete success. It has caused a complete halt in production and dispatch of coal from all coal mines from across the country,” All India Coal Workers’ Federation General Secretary D D Ramanandan told NewsClick over phone from Ranchi in Jharkhand.

Also read: Five Lakh Coal Miners Ready for Total Strike on Sept 24

He said the strike has halted the CIL’s daily production of 2.5 million tonne of coal from nearly 600 mining establishments spread over 82 mining areas across the country. “There is a thumb rule that if the production of 1 million tonne is brought down, it incurs a loss of Rs 150 crore to the mining giant. Going by the calculation, today’s strike has caused a loss of Rs 350-400 crore, which is huge,” he said.

Talking about mobilisation, he said representatives of different federations went to all major mining centres in the past two weeks and talked to thousands of workers. “We got unprecedented support and the result is before everyone. This will be a historic strike in defence of the country’s national resources which the government wants to sell off to foreign companies,” he added.

When asked if the government had approached them regarding the strike, Ramanandan said the trade unions’ representatives were called twice on September 19 and 21 by Coal Secretary Anil Kumar Jain and Minister for Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi, respectively for negotiations. “But we refused to meet anyone maintaining our stand that until the FDI decision is rolled back, no talks will be held,” he said.

On being asked about the struggle ahead, AITUC President Ramendra Kumar said, “We are well aware that it is a long struggle which we have to fight tooth and nail. We will do an assessment of today’s protest and prepare the future plan of action. We will soon launch a nationwide campaign against the government’s decision.”

Describing the token strike as unprecedented, he said, “The workers in general have understood the implications of FDI and therefore, those who never attended any strike are participating in today’s stir. We congratulate coal miners for showing this unity. This is my salute to them.”

Officials of the mining major were not available for comments.

Meanwhile, RSS-affiliated BMS is also observing a five-day ceasework from Monday till September 27 on the same issue.

Even after unions served the strike notice, the government went ahead and issued a notification allowing 100% FDI for mining and sale of coal under the automatic route, including other associated processing infrastructure operations like coal washery, crushing, coal handling and separation (magnetic and non-magnetic).

The major demands of the unions include a stop on foreign capital and privatisation and ensuring job security, among others.

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The government is allegedly trying to privatise the CIL – a Maharatna public sector undertaking which was nationalised in 1973. It first enacted the Coal Mines (Special) Provision Act, 2015, allowing private players to produce and sell coal on their own administered price. It has also diluted public holdings in the CIL by disinvesting nearly 35% of the government-held shares.

The CIL and the Singareni Collieries Company (SCCL) are successful PSUs. While the total production of the CIL in 2018-19 was recorded at 606.89 MT of coal, the SCCL produced about 64.4 MT, making up 92% of all coal production.

Over the past decade, these PSUs have paid almost Rs 1.27 lakh crore as dividends and reserves to the central government, in addition to various taxes and royalties amounting to Rs. 44,000 crore last year alone. They employ about 5.5 lakh employees. In fact, CIL is counted amongst the world’s top 10 coal mining companies.

Once foreign companies start operating in coal mining, there is a fear that it may lead to job losses as the foreign companies are known for cost cutting measures. Regular workers are also apprehensive that they may be turned into contractual and casual workers with much less pay and lower social security benefits.

The CIL had around 7.5 lakh workers in the early 1990s. The number has now been reduced to about 5.5 lakh. There is no job security of nearly 2.8 lakh workers as they are either contractual or casual employees. 

The workers are also demanding that all eight of subsidiaries of the CIL be merged with the parent company as they fear that the government will privatise each of them through a piecemeal process. The workers also argue that the merger will earn more revenue for the government.

CITU Announces Struggle Against ‘Sell Off’ of Country’s Resources

CITU on September 24 congratulated the coal workers of the country for participating in the historic strike. “The government allowed these profits to be siphoned off to their countries. By going on a total strike against this, the coal workers have once again proved that it is they, as part of the working class, who are really determined to protect the interests of the nation. Through the strike they have expressed their strong patriotic feelings,” the CITU said in a press statement.

It went on to add that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have once again “exposed that their topmost priority is to serve their corporate masters – domestic and foreign”.

“Patriotism and nationalism for them are only rhetoric meant to fool the people. Despite the decision of the workers to go on strike, the government went ahead with issuing the notification,” it said.

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The statement further reads, “Around a century ago, 50,000 workers passed a resolution calling for ‘swaraj’ in a meeting called by the first national trade union centre of the country, the All India Trade Union Congress in Jharia coal belt. Today, lakhs of coal workers had to go on strike to protect national interests and national sovereignty which the BJP government is determined to mortgage.”

The united trade union movement has called an open mass convention on September 30 near Parliament to announce a struggle programme against such “sell off” of the country’s natural resources, its public sector and attack on workers’ basic rights and benefits to the profit greedy corporates.

The CITU urged workers, irrespective of affiliations, to unitedly resist and defeat these “anti-national, anti-people and anti-worker” policies of the BJP government.