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29 August, 2011
Some 1,145 Bangladeshi coal miners went on strike against state-owned Barapukuria Coal Mine Company Ltd. (BCMCL) and a Chinese contractor, led by the Bakapukuria Coal Mine Miners’ and Workers’ Union. The five-day strike ended today but workers did not return to their jobs, instead suspending the strike until 3 September while they celebrate the Eid vacation, an Islamic period of family gatherings.
Negotiations two weeks ago between union leaders, BCMCL, and bosses for the China National Import and Export Corp. (XMC), the coal extraction contractor, failed on 22 August and staff stopped work at 6h on 23 August.
All strikers are employed by XMC. They recently witnessed 226 BCMCL get huge pay bonuses due to profitability from the mine near Dinajpur. BCMCL Managing Director Md Quamruzzaman said profit sharing is only for BCMCL staff and miners working for XMC “should get their bonus from their employer if there was any agreement in this regard.”
In the talks that ended early last week, however, BCMCL did step in with an offer. But it was insignificant. While the Miners’ and Workers’ Union is demanding a bonus of BDT 30,000 (€280), management’s offer was but BDT 4,200 (€40).
For at least three years now, the Bangladeshi miners also seek regularisation of their employment terms. As contract workers, they are not entitled to certain social protections, insurance, and pension benefits. The union staged a four-day strike in late March 2010 in which some pay gains were won. In both this strike and last year’s, the union is enforcing blockades to prevent some 350 Chinese workers from working. And in last week’s walkout, the strikers held BCMCL workers in offices as a symbolic protest to the discrimination in granting bonus pay-outs.
Ironically, BCMCL was attempting to part ways with its Chinese partner when a contract ended last October. But after searching for bids, XMC, which has operated the mine complex since 2005, was the only bidder and BCMCL re-awarded the contract in May. At that time, the state company also installed a contractor to monitor wage levels paid by XMC in order to “discourage (workers) from launching frequent demonstrations,” in the words of the company.
BCMCL produces to mine one million tonnes annually of thermal coal and is one of several subsidiaries of state-held Bangladesh Oil, Gas, Mineral Corp. (PETROBANGLA).