Coal Workers 7 lakh employees nationwide strike
More than 7 lakh employees across the country have launched a 5-day long strike from yesterday, protesting the Central Government’s decision to sell the company’s shares. This is expected to severely affect the electric power generation for the next few days.
The Central Government has decided to revamp the coal mine companies and sell the shares in the open market. Coal mine workers all over the country had announced a 5-day long strike, claiming that the decision was against the principles of nationalization. The striking workers had also presented their list of demands.
As per their announcement, the strike began with the very first shift in the morning, yesterday. More than 7 lakh coal-mine workers are going to gherao their head-quarters and participate in the strike.
More than 15 lakh tons of coal is dug up everyday at the government-owned mines, and sent to the thermal power stations for generating electricity. The strike is expected to take a severe toll on power generation, and thus, power supply, all over the country. Even otherwise, coal production has been affected due to shortage of power to these mines. With the commencement of strike, the situation is very likely to worsen.
Five important trade unions, including Bharatiya Janata Party’s Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), INTUC, AITUC, CITU and HMS, have declared their support and participation in the strike. The fact that BJP’s own workers’ union is participating in the strike has become a source of embarrassment for the Central Government.