Dhanbad Sept 4: Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), a prime subsidiary of Coal India Limited (CIL), has tagged salary payment of its around 38.000 miners with the Covid vaccination.
The BCCL headquarters management has in this regard directed the general managers (GMs) of all colliery areas of the company to stop attendance and salary payment of the miner who has not taken a vaccine and submitted its certificate in the office.
The management in its special message to the colliery area general managers has said that for protection from Corona infection, a vaccination drive is being done in all colliery areas and free-of-cost vaccination has been arranged for the miners. So stop attendance and salary payment of those who have not taken a vaccine,” the special message said.
BCCL has 38,000 regular employees and the management has made vaccination mandatory for them. Besides it, the management official sources said outsourcing companies involved in mining have also been directed to ensure vaccination of their employees. Over 55,000 miners are working in different outsourcing companies operating in the mines of BCCL.
Meanwhile, trade unions have strongly protested ‘no vaccination, no salary payment’ order of the BCCL management. Rashtriya Colliery Mazdoor Sangh (RCMS) general secretary AK Jha said that holding salary payments of miners is a national crime. “ Miners would oppose the order strongly and unitedly,” he said.
The RCMS general secretary said miners and their families are ready to take vaccination for safety but due to mismanagement they are deprived of vaccination so far. There is a need for coordination between the coal company management and the government (vaccination in charge of the health department) for covering all the miners with vaccination. “ But tagging the salary payment with vaccination is not a good order for industrial relations point of view,” said Jha.
