The Hindu : National : Central trade unions to meet PM soon

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Sunday, May 23, 2004

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National

Central trade unions to meet PM soon

By Aarti Dhar

NEW DELHI, MAY 22. Representatives of the major central trade unions (CTUs) will shortly meet the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, and the Labour Minister with their agenda of a better deal for the labour class. High on the agenda are dilution of "anti-labour policies," increased employment and no to privatisation of the profit-making units.

Now that the Left has a vital role to play in the Government at the Centre, the trade unions are hopeful that the Government will not be as anti-labour as the erstwhile National Democratic Government.

"We are just waiting for the government to take oath and appoint the Labour Minister," the All-India Trade Union Congress secretary, D.L. Sachdeva, said.

Major CTUs have agreed to the idea of meeting the Prime Minister, though the Bharatiya Janata Party-supported Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh is yet to decide. "We are still waiting and watching," a BMS office-bearer said.

The Hind Mazdoor Sabha and the Indian National Trade Union Congress are also expected to join the other trade unions in the endeavour, though a final decision will be made only after the senior leaders meet in a couple of days.

According to Mr. Vardarajan of the Centre for Indian Trade Unions, the priority would be to impress upon the Government to file a review petition on the Supreme Court judgment banning the right to strike.

"The previous Government had announced a Social Security Scheme for the 37-crore workers in the unorganised sector which was more of an `election gimmick' than a well-worked-out scheme with a financial back-up," he said. "We want to make it a viable scheme for the unorganised sector drafted in consultation with the trade unions," he added.

Rehabilitation of sick small and medium units instead of ordering their closure and uniform minimum wages across the country should be made mandatory, Mr. Vardarajan said. Again, in WTO-related matters, the labour — which is most affected — is never involved in the exercise. "We want the labour be made an important part of the process."

Besides annulling the initiatives of the previous Government on amending the Industrial Disputes Act and the Indian Contract Labour Act to bring in `hire and fire' policy, the trade unions also want revival of the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction and the Apellate Authority for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction that had been abolished to make way for the National Company Law Tribunal.

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