The Hindu : Business : Agenda for labour meet in Delhi

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 24, 2007
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Business

Business

Agenda for labour meet in Delhi

Staff Reporter

Call for panel to sort out SEZ problems

KOCHI: Trade unions in the country had succeeded in setting the agenda for the 41st Labour Conference scheduled early next month in Delhi. While the Union Government had proposed to set the tone of the conference by discussing amendments to and flexibility in labour laws, the trade unions convinced the Government that violation of labour laws should be the focus of the conference, said Thampan Thomas, veteran trade unionist and leader of the HMS, here at a press conference on Monday.

He said that at the meeting of the Standing Labour Committee in Delhi last week, trade unions had pressed home the need to turn the discussions in favour of the labour. Trade union leaders as well as representatives of employers attended the committee meeting.

Mr. Thampan Thomas also called for setting up a high-power committee comprising representatives of the Government, trade unions and the employers in Special Economic Zones to sort out problems that arise in the zones.

He said the farming community should not be deprived of their rights when SEZs were formed, that the collective bargaining and trade union rights should be protected, that principles enshrined in the Directive Principles of State Policy should be adhered to, that the normal legal protection should not be denied to SEZ workers and that ILO Convention should be implemented.

The HMS leader also alleged that violation of labour laws had reached a high and that instances of paying less than the minimum wages were going up.

He said that the Budget for the next financial year should make provisions for increased luxury taxes and plough the money into social protection.

Increased economic growth should be used to increase employment and to improve working conditions, he added.

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