With the elections to the recognised trade union of the State-owned Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) less than a month away, the major trade unions have intensified their mass contact programmes in the Kothagudem coal belt region to muster support from the coal workers.
Kothagudem region comprising four areas — Manuguru, Yellandu, Kothagudem and Kothagudem Corporate — and it has more than 9000 voters, sources said.
An estimated 53,146 voters are expected to exercise their franchise in all the 11 areas of the Singareni Collieries spread across seven districts, including Bhadradri-Kothagudem, in the State.
Strategic move
The AITUC affiliated Singareni Collieries Workers Union (SCWU) and the INTUC affiliated Singareni Coal Miners Labour Union (SCMLU) have joined hands in a strategic move to trounce the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti affiliated Telangana Boggu Gani Karmika Sangham (TBGKS) in the elections to recognised union scheduled to be conducted on October 5.
The SCWU, which won the recognised union elections thrice in the past, launched a joint campaign along with the SCMLU in Kothagudem region ahead of the nomination filing. The process of nominations filing is set to begin in the second week of this month.
Headstart
The CITU affiliated Singareni Collieries Employees Union (SCEU) had a head-start in the campaign with its senior leaders, including its honorary president Raja Rao and general secretary Manda Narasimha Rao, spearheading a whirlwind electioneering in the form of gate meetings at the coal mines and other departments besides house to house visits in Kothagudem region.
The SCEU’s campaign is focussed around taking the TBGKS to task over issues like alleged expansion of opencast mining and move to privatise Tadicherla blocks.
A number of issues especially the dependent employment, housing, miners welfare and safety are likely to dominate the electioneering, which is expected to reach a peak in the last week of this month.