By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : The operations of state-owned Coal India Limited (CIL) in Orissa were hit Monday by a one-day strike called by its major workers’ unions, an official said.
There was no mining or transportation of coal from the two fields run by Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL), a CIL subsidiary.
Workers skipped work at all the mines in the Talcher coalfield area in Angul district and IB Valley Coalfield area in Jharsuguda district.
“The raising and transportation have been totally stopped,” Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) public relations officer Dikken Mehera told IANS.
The daily output at CIL’s Orissa mines is estimated at 300,000 tonnes. Monday’s strike will cause a loss of about Rs.18 crore, he said.
Five leading unions of CIL — the Congress-backed Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), the Left backed-CITU and AITUC, the Hind Mazdoor Sabha and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-backed Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, have joined the strike.
The unions have been demanding Rs.25,000 as productivity-linked bonus or ex-gratia this year, but the management offered only Rs.17,000. Other demands include early wage revision.