2.40 Lakh Coal Workers Await New Wage Pact as JBCCI-12 Formation Remains Stuck
Wage negotiations cannot begin until the Joint Bipartite Committee for the Coal Industry is constituted
The proposed new wage agreement for around 2.40 lakh non-executive employees of Coal India Limited remains in limbo, with the formation of the Joint Bipartite Committee for the Coal Industry-12 (JBCCI-12) yet to be notified.
The previous National Coal Wage Agreement-XI (NCWA-XI) expired on June 30, 2026, after remaining effective from July 1, 2021. However, the process for negotiating its successor has not formally begun because the committee that will conduct the negotiations has not yet been constituted.
The issue was raised by trade unions at the Apex Joint Consultative Committee meeting on September 3. According to reports, Coal India management assured the unions that it would approach the Ministry of Coal for the required approval for constituting JBCCI-12.
That assurance led the unions to postpone a joint conference scheduled in Ranchi on September 12. However, even by September 20, there had been no notification constituting JBCCI-12, according to reports.
Wage talks yet to start
The delay is significant because JBCCI-12 is the institutional mechanism through which the management of Coal India and recognised trade unions will negotiate the next wage settlement, including wages and other service-related conditions for non-executive employees.
With NCWA-XI already having expired, the absence of a successor negotiating body has effectively kept the new wage settlement process on hold.
The immediate question for the workforce is therefore not yet the quantum of the wage increase, but when the mechanism for negotiating that increase will actually be put in place.
Unions await action, not assurances
The September 3 assurance had raised expectations that the approval process with the Ministry of Coal would be completed quickly. The continuing absence of a formal notification, however, has left trade unions waiting for clarity on the status of the proposal.
The postponement of the Ranchi joint conference had indicated that unions were willing to give the management time to move the process forward. With the promised action still awaited, attention has now shifted to the next concrete step from Coal India and the Ministry of Coal.
Bigger labour-relations implications
The constitution of JBCCI-12 is not merely about negotiating a new salary package. The committee is also expected to become an important forum for discussions on the evolving industrial-relations framework in the coal industry, including issues arising from the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, employee representation and the future structure of management-union negotiations.
For 2.40 lakh coal workers, therefore, the clock is already ticking on a wage agreement that technically has no negotiating committee yet.
The immediate questions are straightforward: When will the Ministry of Coal clear the proposal? When will JBCCI-12 be formally constituted? And when will negotiations for the next national coal wage agreement finally begin?
Until those questions are answered, the new wage settlement remains effectively stalled.
