Coal production hit as unions begin five-day strike

Bhubaneswar/Kolkata/Hyderabad, Jan 6: Coal production in India was hit Tuesday as around five lakh workers began a five-day strike to protest moves towards commercial mining of the fuel. Trade union leader Jibon Roy called it the second biggest industrial action in almost four decades and put the estimated daily loss at Rs.1,500 crore. State-run Coal India Ltd (CIL) has near monopoly over coal production and accounts for nearly 82 percent of domestic output. "Not even one percent of the total workforce of CIL joined duty today nationally," Roy said in Kolkata. Roy, general secretary of the Left-affiliated All India Coal Workers Federation, said the unions would meet central government representatives to discuss the future of disinvestment in coal industry which he said "is practically leading to slavery of the workers".