THE CITU has called upon all workers in the coal mines and establishments to continue their protest against the nefarious game plan of the central government to commence the process of denationalisation of coal mining through the promulgation of an Ordinance containing enabling provision for allowing private sector in commercial mining of coal. In respond to a call given by CITU and its affiliated organisation All India Coal Workers Federation (AICWF), workers observed ‘two-hour work stoppage’ in all the coal mines and establishments in the country on November 24 and held massive demonstrations to voice their determination not to allow handing over of the coal mines to private companies, both domestic and foreign, for commercial mining. CITU and AICWF have also opposed the manner in which the joint strike call in coal industry was postponed/ deferred by some of the federations only on the basis of so-called vague assurance of the joint secretary of the coal ministry, despite the fact that the Ordinance initiating the process of aggressive denationalisation of coal mining has already been put on the track of implementation and the time of auctioning of coal blocks has been more or less finalised. Three national Coal India federations, affiliated to INTUC, HMS and AITUC, decided to defer the proposed November 24 strike after a meeting with the joint secretary coal ministry official in New Delhi on November 22, at which the coal ministry official assured the union delegation that he would try to arrange a meeting with the “higher authority”. “The All India Coal Workers Federation disapproves the decision of the leaderships representing three other national coal federations, who were joint signatories to the nationwide coal strike call, to defer it unwarrantedly and on a false pretext. The deferment of the strike with no convincing reason and on the pretext of an assurance that the joint secretary would try for a meeting with the ‘higher authority’ do not in any way defend the morale and dignity of coal workers. AICWF rejects the context under which strike has been deferred and separates itself from the understanding which has been signed with the ministry official… AICWF calls upon the coal workers to hold protest demonstrations in all the coal mines and pitheads and vow their commitment for continuing the struggle against privatisation of coal mines and the unilateral promulgation of ordinance while inviting commercial mining,” AICWF general secretary Jibon Roy said in a statement. In a separate statement, CITU general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Tapan Sen said, “Similar assurance given to the federations on arranging meeting with the coal minister by the CIL management and the bureaucracy only one-and-a-half months back did not materialise. In view of the Ordinance already put in implementation track, which, inter alia, grossly tampered and altered the basic provisions of the Coal Nationalised Act 1973, the joint one-day strike call of November 24 by four federations in coal industry was envisaged as a protest action, preparatory to higher struggle for resistance to the aggressive move for denationalisation/privatisation of coal mining sector by the coal workers. There is no justification for withdrawal/postponement/deferment of the said protest strike merely on the basis of assurance of meeting with the government, more so when such assurance has already been violated only a month back.” CITU-led All India Coal Workers' Federation has rightly opposed such postponement of strike and refused to endorse the conclusions of the meeting between the federations and the ministry official held on November 22 in New Delhi, Sen said, urging the workers to prepare for united resistance struggle against the government move for denationalisation of coal industry and privatisation/disinvestment in the days to come. (EOM)