Coal India signs wage agreement with unions

Kolkata, Oct 10 (IANS) After long negotiations, the Coal India management and workers' unions on Tuesday signed the wage agreement for a 20 per cent hike which would be effective for five years till June 30, 2021.

"Memorandum of Agreement for National Coal Wage Agreement -X has been signed on October 10, 2017 for a period of five years from July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2021," the miner said in a regulatory filing.

"This agreement will impact 2.98 lakh coal workers and the total estimated average annual impact would be Rs 5,667 crore," it said.

The unions had initially demanded a 50 per cent salary increase and settled for 20 per cent after year-long negotiations.

In August, the agreement was expected to be signed but it was not executed that time due to lack of consensus between the management and unions.

B.K. Rai, representing workers on behalf of Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh had said there were points of differences regarding the wage on rest day and compensation to contractual workers in case of any fatal incidents.

Wages usually are negotiated every five years and salaries were increased by 25 per cent in 2011.

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