Coal India, trade unions sign pact for 19% minimum guaranteed benefit

State-owned Coal India Limited (CIL) and trade unions have agreed to a 19 per cent minimum guaranteed benefit of the monthly emolument, benefitting 2.38 lakh non-executive workers, an official statement said on Wednesday.

In this regard, "CIL and the four central trade unions BMS, HMS, AITUC and CITU have inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), recommending 19 per cent Minimum Guaranteed Benefit (MGB) for 2.38 lakh non-executive employees as part of the ongoing National Coal Wage Agreement XI (NCWA-XI)," Ministry of Coal said in a statement.

The MoU between CIL and trade unions was signed in Kolkata on Tuesday.

The MGB of 19 per cent is on the emoluments as of June 30, 2021, which include basic pay, variable dearness allowance, special dearness allowance and attendance bonus.

The Telangana-based Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) was also the other signatory to the MoU.

"A total of around 2.82 lakh employees of both the state-owned coal entities, CIL and SCCL, who were on the rolls of the company as of 1st July 2021, would be the beneficiaries. SCCL's employees account for close to 44,000," it said.

A formal pact for the eleventh version of NCWA, effective from July 1, 2021, for five years, would be finalised after deliberations on remaining issues other than MGB are concluded, the statement said.