To protest against the BJP-led Union government’s “anti-labour policies”, labour unions in the state have called a two-day strike, as part of the nationwide protest on January 8 and 9. Advertising The labour unions’ demands include withdrawal of the “anti-labour” changes in the law, immediate steps to control unemployment, minimum wages for all labourers, social security benefits, like employees provident fund for all labourers, Rs 6,000 monthly pension for farmers, farm labourers and labourers in the unorganised sectors, status of government employees to scheme workers, equal work and equal pay and stoppage of employing labourers on contract for continuous work upto 12 months. Explained What is the grievance? This will be the third strike by the labour unions across the country since 2015 on the 12-point charter of demands. The labour unions allege that the government has been taking “pro-corporate” and “anti-people” decisions despite the opposition they have been met with. Besides, another reason for the anger among the unions is not holding the annual national labour conference since 2015. The labour unions allege that the government is not interested in holding talks or discussions with them on several issues and is pushing to convert the 44 labour laws to the four labour codes and term it “four employer-friendly labour codes”. It has created fear among the labour unions that this would lead to a “hire-and-fire policy” jeopardising job security. The unions feel that the government needs to allay their fears and involve them in the decision making process. In a meeting held last week, the Trade Union Joint Action Committee of labour unions passed a resolution for the strike to be called on January 8 and 9. “Under the guise of the ease of doing business, Make in India and Start Up India, the government is making pro-corporate or employer-friendly changes in labour laws. It has not helped in setting up new industries but is helping the corporates to remove employees from work. It is like forcing slavery on labourers,” said Vishwas Utagi, the convener of the committee. Utagi laos alleged that the government is not serious about holding constructive consultations with the labour unions. Advertising D L Karad, the national vice-president of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), said the government is showing the employment generation figures by fudging documents. “While there are no jobs on one side, many labourers have lost jobs in the past few years due to retrenchment and closure of factories. Besides, demonetisation and GST have destroyed many existing jobs,” said Karad. He added that the 12-point charter of demands was given to the Union government but the government has not acted on it. “The two-day protest in the state is part of the nationwide strike called by all major labour unions. The anti-labour and anti-nation policies are not only destroying the labourers’ lives but also causing major losses to the nation’s economy,” Karad said. The labour unions have held one-day protests in September, 2015, and in 2016, apart from several protests.

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