Jaitley-led panel to meet Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh on labour issues

Ahead of the proposed nation-wide strike by ten trade unions next month, a Finance Minister Arun Jaitley-led ministerial panel will meet RSS-affiliate Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) on Wednesday.

The meeting is expected to discuss the 12-point charter of demands of Central Trade Unions (CTUs), which includes a granting of a minimum wage of Rs. 18,000 per month among others. It was earlier scheduled for August 22.

The panel had met BMS representatives on August 16 too, but talks remained inconclusive.

The government is talking exclusively with the BMS over the 12-point charter of demands ahead of the proposed nation-wide strike called by 10 trade unions on September 2.

Even as the government is trying to persuade the BMS to refrain from the proposed strike, as many as 10 trade unions have decided to go ahead with their one-day pan-India strike on September 2, citing no positive response from the government to their demands as the reason.

They decided to go on strike on the same date again this year alleging that the government was 'indifferent' to their demands. The unions, after the meeting of central coordination committee on August 18, decided to go ahead with the strike.