Anxious govt tries to dissuade labour leaders from going on strike

An anxious government is leaving no stone unturned to dissuade the labour leaders from participating in the first ever joint strike by all the Central Trade Unions (CTUs) on February 28.

Following Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s telephonic conversation with Intuc President Sanjeeva Reddy on Friday, the labour ministry on Sunday issued an appeal in all major dailies “to desist from going on strike on February 28”.

On Friday, the prime minister had telephoned Reddy and invited him to have a discussion on all issues of dispute that trade unions had with the government. However, Reddy turned down the prime minister’s offer and told him to call a meeting with all the central trade unions for a discussion.

“I told the prime minister that he should call a meeting of all central trade unions. Instead of speaking just to me, he should be speaking to all the labour leaders,” said Reddy. He added that a decision to go on strike can be reconsidered if the prime minister issued an assurance that he will take action on the issues over which the unions are going on strike. Reddy said since then no word has come from the prime minister’s office.(Click here for TRADE UNIONS’ STRIKE CALL)

However, sources in the labour ministry said the prime minister’s office was in direct touch with the ministry since Thursday over the issue of strike. The prime minister’s Principal Secretary Pulok Chaterji and Cabinet Secretary Ajit Kumar Seth are speaking to the Labour Secretary Mrutyunjay Sarangi to draw a strategy to avoid the strike.

Other labour leaders also echoed Reddy’s opinion and said the decision can be reconsidered if the prime minister issued an assurance. “The prime minister is calling us 48 hours before the strike, he could have called us earlier. We can reconsider the decision only if the prime minister issues an assurance of taking action on all issues of dispute,” said Gurudas Dasgupta, general secretary of the All India Trade Union Congress.

The trade union leaders said the prime minister could have helped resolve the issue if he would have given an assurance during the Indian Labour Conference (ILC). During the ILC, the prime minister’s speech had failed mentioning what trade union leaders expected were the two main issues: contractualisation of workforce and fixing a statutory minimum wage all over the country.

“ILC would have been the best opportunity for the prime minister to address all these issues. But he didn’t say anything,” said Saji Narayanan, president of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh.