Nationwide strike by 10 central unions on September 2 in view of the government’s assurance of their 12-point charter of demands that include a minimum wage of Rs. 18,000 per month in the unorganised sector.
“It was a good meeting. We are waiting for a formal communication from the government on their assurances about working on 12-point charter of demands,” BmsGeneral Secretary Virjesh Upadhyay told PTI after meeting with the ministerial panel headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley here.
This was the second round of discussions by the panel with a delegation of BMS, after the August 16 meeting.
In the present legal framework, all units of unions have to mandatorily serve a notice for strike two weeks in advance in the case of essential services like transport and power supply.
Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said: “We had a positive discussion with the BMS. We discussed many issues. Government is considering their demand on minimum wages, contract labour, pension issues and we are hopeful that all trade unions will be happy with our (government’s) efforts.”
The trade unions rejected the request on Saturday saying the government had failed to address their demands. They said, the status report on the demands is “almost the same as that you circulated exactly one year ago, in the joint meeting with the CTUs held on August 26-27, on the eve of the general strike in 2015”.
Power minister Piyush Goyal and Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya are part of the five-member ministers’ panel on labour issues, chaired by Finance minister Arun Jaitley.
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee opposed the strike, warning strict actions against those indulging in arson and violence. “If they want, they can go to Delhi and stage dharna to register their protest,” She has said.
(inputs from PTI)