Jadugoda (East Singhbhum), Aug. 27: Hours after 240 miners struck work inside the Uranium Corporation of India Limited’s (UCIL) Jadugoda mines, the protest spilled over to three other mines, bringing mining and production activities to a grinding halt.

The workers, around 4,500 are said to be participating in the strike, are protesting against management recommendations to revise their wages by 15 per cent.

The last time the wages were revised, in 2003, the pay had gone up by 20 per cent. The workers are also demanding two increments, which are due since 2003.

Sources at UCIL said about 36 hours had lapsed since the miners had gone down at Jadugoda.

The miners, who went in at 7 am yesterday, have refused to come out unless the management gives a written assurance to revise their pay. The underground mine at Jadugoda is 555 feet below ground level.

Within hours, workers at the processing plant in Jadugoda ? located on the same campus ? also stopped work. Around 3 km away at the Bhatin mines, a group of 75 workers went underground at around 3 pm yesterday and have not come up till today.

The miners at UCIL’s other two mines, Narwahpahar and Turamdih, also joined the strike today.

UCIL officials informed that the strike had forced chairman-cum-managing director Ramendra Gupta to cut short his visit to Mumbai and rush to Jadugoda.

Till this afternoon, however, there were no reports of a breakthrough in negotiations between Gupta and the union representatives.

While deliberations continued inside the UCIL conference room, hundreds of worried family members of the striking miners waited on the company premises. Some were even carrying food and water to be ferried to the miners underground via a lift.

The workers have claimed that the management had held talks with its four recognised unions over pay revision on August 12. But, the talks remained inconclusive.

“Such a strike took place in July 2000. At that time, too, workers fought for their wage revision,” said A.K. Jha, a representative of Singhbhum Uranium Mazdoor Union.

Company officials claimed there was no fear of water-logging inside the mines as motors had been pressed into service to pump out the water.

Asked whether a solution was in sight, company secretary P.V. Dubey said efforts to convince the workers to withdraw the strike bore no results.

“The matter, however, is expected to be resolved soon,” he added.