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‘United forum for trade unions to be launched'

KOLKATA: The emerging unity among the trade unions in the country will have an “institutional framework” with the launch of a united forum, Gurudas Dasgupta said on Wednesday.

“The working classes are not a priority in the agenda of the government,” said Mr. Dasgupta, the general secretary of the All-India Trade Union Congress and a senior MP of the CPI. Even in Parliament, the interests of the workers were being sidelined in favour of the capitalists. Over the past year, a movement for joint action had emerged among the trade unions and this unity will be institutionalised under the chairmanship of G. Sanjeeva Reddy, the president of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), he said.

“The all-India strike called by nine trade unions on September 7 is a new wave and initiative in the trade union movement,” he said.

The strike, supported by the INTUC, has not been opposed by the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh. Five crore workers are expected to participate in the 24-hour-strike which will result in losses of about Rs. 5,000 crore to industries and about Rs. 500 crore in wages. A “Parliament of Trade Unions” will be held this winter as an alternative forum for the workers to address their concerns.

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