Presentation long abstract

Just transition debates in the Global South often understate the role of organized labour, despite the concept originating within global trade union movements. India’s coal sector provides a critical lens to address this gap. This paper draws on the experience of Singareni Collieries Company Limited, a state-majority-owned coal enterprise in Telangana, to examine how trade unions shape the social and institutional foundations of transition in resource-dependent regions. Declared a ‘sick’ company in 1997 with losses of ₹1,219 crore, SCCL’s recovery is usually attributed to technological upgrades and managerial reforms. However, equally vital were strengthened labour-management dialogues and consolidated bargaining structures, which evolved from nearly 100 unions in the 1990s to five major unions today, following India’s first coal-sector union elections in 1998.

Unions in Singareni have negotiated on pension reforms, dependent employment, wage revisions, medical benefits, workplace safety, and the implications of coal block privatization. Through these actions, they advance principles central to just transition frameworks, participation, social dialogue. Yet energy-justice scholarship rarely examines such labour-driven practices or the influence unions exert within the coal political economy of the Global South.

Drawing on semi-structured interviews with union leaders and workers, and primary data from grievance registers, this paper analyses the institutional capabilities and bargaining strategies of Singareni’s unions and their embeddedness in state politics, given SCCL’s significance as a voter constituency. Situated within broader Global South debates, the study demonstrates how labour institutions in state-owned coal sectors can contribute to equitable, worker-centred transition planning in India and other coal-dependent regions.