Singareni Collieries Workers' Strike Continues

PEDDAPALLI: Labour unions of the Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) continued their strike for the second consecutive day on Friday, July 3. A three-day strike has been called by several workers' unions against the Central government's decision to privatise coal mines. The workers raised slogans against the auction of coal blocks to private parties.

Leaders of labour unions went to the mines and directly appealed to the workers to support the strike.

Trade unions like Centre of Indian Trade Union (CITU), All India Construction Workers Federation (AICWF), Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) and Singareni Collieries Employees Union (SCEU) lent their support to the cause.

"All the labour unions called for a three-day-strike from July 2 to 4 against the central government's decision of privatising coal blocks. There are 11 coal mines in Singareni and there are 50 countrywide," said a worker present at the protest site.

Former Nizamabad MP and former honorary president of TBGKS Kalvakuntla Kavitha demanded that the Centre rolls back its decision to privatise coal mines.

Almost 75 per cent of SCCL employees working in the coal belt areas boycotted work and staged protests. With this, the coal production in mines of  SCCL situated at various places across the state came to a halt on Friday.
 
Earlier in May, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the central government will introduce competition, transparency, and private sector participation in the coal sector and will do infrastructure development of Rs 50,000 crore.