Trade unions stick to Sept 2 strike, reject govt’s wage hike

New Delhi, Aug 30 (PTI) Trade unions today said they willgo ahead with nation-wide strike on September 2, rejecting as"completely inadequate" the government’s 42 per cent hike inminimum wage to Rs 350 per day. "The government’s minimum wage announcement is completelyinadequate. The strike stands and we demand they should enacta law to fix minimum (universal) wage," All India Trade UnionCongress General Secretary Gurudas Dasgupta said. Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Arun Jaitleyannounced a slew of labour-friendly measures including hikingof minimum wage to Rs 350 a day for unskilled non-agriculturalworkers for ‘C’ category areas in central sphere. Calculated monthly, it comes to Rs 9,100 minimum income(for 26 days) which is way below the unions’ demand of Rs18,000. Initially, the unions had demanded Rs 15,000 asminimum monthly income for daily wagers but the demand wasrevised after the government accepted the recommendations ofthe 7th Pay Commission. Asked whether this will be a benchmark wage for theentire country, Labour Secretary Shankar Aggarwal said thatthis is for workers in central sphere and states can fix aminimum wage lower or higher than this rate. Explaining further, Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreyasaid that an amendment in the Minimum Wage Act is required forfixing a universal minimum wage and an initiative has beentaken in this direction. "Finance Minister’s statement clearly shows that thegovernment has not considered any of the demands in our12-point charter. The unions have no other alternative but tofight for their rights," Indian National Trade Union CongressVice-President Ashok Singh said. However, RSS affiliate Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh has laudedthe government’s announcements and decided to abstain from thegeneral strike on September 2. "We welcome it and are satisfied by the increase inminimum wages. BMS will not participate in the strike," BMSGeneral Secretary Virjesh Upadhyay said. MORE RNK DP NKD KKSCS NKD JMSA