The preparation by MCl managed coal workers is underway for three day strike from June 19 at national level.
A meeting was held on Sunday by AITUC, HMC and BMS under the Chairmanship of Prasanna Choudhury which was attended by Ranendra Kumar as chief guest. Similarly, Ashok Jadab, Anit Chakraborty, Mohan Rao, Kulamani Das , Debraj Pradhan, Sukanta Padhan etc. kept their viewpoints on the strike.
A notice for bandh on June 1 has been given by five workers’ organisations at the all-India level. As alleged, the transformation of Coal Mazdoor Provident Fund to EPF will cause loss to the workers.
As per current practice, 12 per cent of the salary of worker is deposited in CMPP, while same amount is given in that account on behalf of Coal India. While at present in coal industry, more than Rs 8,000 is deposited in the account of workers getting salary from Rs 25,000 to Rs 60,000, it will be limited to Rs 3,000 under the new rules. As a result, a worker will get only Rs 3 to 4 lakh on his retirement as against Rs 50 to 60 lakh from his Provident Fund.
Seven demands like implementation of the earlier agreement in its entirety by Coal India, same pay for same work and withdrawal of decision to close coal mines were analysed in the meeting. The three workers organisations agreed to support the bandh call on June 1.
With this, INTUC also will be supporting the strike, said AITUC workers leader Anit Chakraborty. The meeting was coordinated by trade union leader Subash Jali.