Search the Internet          Tips

PMO, trade unions paint contrasting pictures of labour issues after meeting

Vajpayee, who held discussions with representatives of central trade unions on contentious labour issues, said such a dialogue could cover priorities in divestment and the manner in which the divestment should be carried out, PMO sources said.

Trade union leaders, the sources said, supported the divestment policy and assured their full cooperation to the government. They, however, wanted some mechanism to be evolved for such a dialogue and suggested it could be held through the special tripartite committee.

The prime minister agreed to consider the suggestion, the sources added.

However, trade union representatives painted a different picture of the outcome of their meeting with the prime minister, which showed they were none too enthusiastic about the Centre's policies.

At the meeting, leaders of various trade unions strongly opposed the government's policies on divestment and the proposed amendments in the Contract Labour Act and the Industrial Disputes Act under which no prior permission would be required to sack employees in industries employing less than 1,000 workers.

Emerging from the two-hour meeting at the prime minister's residence, Hasmukhbhai Dave, general secretary of Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), affiliated to the Bharatiya Janata Party, said "We are not satisfied as the government takes exparte decisions without consulting us."

BMS founder Dattopant Thengdi recently fired salvos at the Vajpayee government on issues like divestment and proposed amendments in certain acts.

Dave said Vajpayee should spell out clearly the measures he intended to take for the welfare of workers when he addresses the Indian Labour Conference (ILC) in Delhi on May 18.

Labour Minister Satyanarayan Jatiya told reporters that Vajpayee sought to allay apprehensions among trade union leaders by explaining the intention of the government to protect the labour force and assuring them that a mechanism would be evolved to protect the interests of workers in the face of divestment of various Public Sector Undertakings.

Representatives of BMS, Indian National Trade Union Congress, Hind Mazdoor Sangh, All India Trade Union Congress, Centre of Indian Trade Unions, UTUC (LS), UTUC and NFITU attended the meeting.

Jatiya said Saturday's meeting was part of government's exercise to have regular interaction with trade unions on various labour issues and strengthen the tripartite mechanism.

He said the government was keen to introduce social welfare schemes for agriculture workers and consultations had already been held with the finance ministry in this regard.

INTUC president G Sanjeeva Reddy demanded retrenchment allowance and opposed divestment of profit-making PSUs.

Reddy also demanded removal of ceiling on bonus and said the Contract Labour Act and Industrial Disputes Act should not be amended till the National Labour Commission submitted its report.

R A Mittal of HMS quoted the prime minister as saying that the Trade Unions would be consulted on various labour matters. "The prime minister also felt that the bonus ceiling should be raised," he said.

Other issues discussed at the meeting included welfare schemes for the unorganised sector and a social security net for retrenched workers.

These issues were discussed on Friday at a meeting of labour unions convened by Jatiya, who had assured the trade union representatives that whatever legislation was enacted or existing laws were amended, the interest of the workers would be protected at all costs.

Tell us what you think of this report