Protests by contract workers at the NMDC pellet and beneficiation plants in Donimalai, Ballari, escalated on Thursday as members of the Joint Mine Workers Union, affiliated with the All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC), locked the facility’s main gate at 4 a.m., blocking the entry of permanent staff, contract workers, and vehicles.
Over 500 workers joined the blockade, calling for the immediate reinstatement of all contract workers whose services were recently terminated.
Ballari MP E. Tukaram visited the protest site, extending support and urging NMDC to reinstate workers who lost their jobs after the contractor’s tender period ended earlier this month.
Union working president K. Devadas told the gathering that workers had been jobless for 10 days and accused NMDC of shifting responsibility to the new contractor.
He said the Union government-run company has neither committed to restarting the plant nor clarified whether the current workforce will be retained. He added that it was distressing to see workers with eight to ten years of service treated in this manner and warned of an intensified agitation if they are not reinstated before operations resume under the new contractor.
AITUC district vice-president K. Somashekhara Gowda, union secretary Pramod, treasurer Suresh, and other leaders, including Huligesh, Manjunath, Santosh Kumar, Rajappa, and Huliappa, also took part in the protest.
On Monday, workers demonstrated in front of the NMDC administrative office and submitted a memorandum to the Executive Director and Project Manager of the pellet plant. They also petitioned the Deputy Commissioner through the Tahsildar seeking urgent intervention.
Addressing the earlier protest, AITUC State president K.K. Somashekar had said that after the contractor’s tender expired on November 18, contract workers at both plants were abruptly removed.
He said NMDC, as the principal employer, had failed to ensure job security and was asking workers to wait until the new contractor takes charge without providing any assurance of continued employment, leaving hundreds of families vulnerable.
He demanded that NMDC direct the incoming contractor to begin operations immediately and absorb all current workers, and insisted that until new arrangements are finalised, the existing workforce must be paid minimum wages, PF and other statutory benefits.