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Eleven central trade unions, irrespective of their political affiliations, called upon workers from all sectors to organise ‘National Protest Day’ on December 5 by holding demonstrations against the Narendra Modi Government’s move to amend labour laws, growing contracterisation and hike FDI in defence, railways and insurance among others.
Addressing a national convention held to kick-off a two-month-long campaign, Brijesh Upadhyay, General Secretary of BJP-backed Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, said the Modi Government had criticised the ‘policy paralysis’ of the previous regime, but was promoting anti-labour polices that would ‘paralyse the workers’. He demanded a white paper from the Government on how much foreign direct investment had come into the country after Independence.
Upadhyay said trade unions did not want to confront the new Government so soon but were being forced by the speed with which labour law changes were being carried out, adding that the Rajasthan Government’s move alone would push over 97 per cent workers out of the ambit of labour laws.
Tapan Sen and Gurudas Dasgupta, general secretaries of Left-backed CITU and AITUC, respectively, termed the Modi Government’s policies as “anti-national”. The All India Railway Men’s Federation, the largest union affiliated to the Hind Mazdoor Sabha, said it was time for an ‘indefinite strike, adding that FDI in the sector would be opposed ‘tooth and nail’.
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