Addressing a press meet, AITUC state General Secretary Kanam Rajendran said neither the Centre nor the state government has powers to cancel registration of unions at the Brahmos Aerospace Thiruvananthapuram Ltd (BATL) as it was against the constitutional rights of the workers.
"The Government's decision to ban unions in Defence establishments only betrayed its ignorance of trade union laws and constitutionally guaranteed rights of workers. The announcement of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy could be seen only as an emotional reaction to critical remarks made by Antony against his government during a function at the BrahMos unit here last week," Rajendran sad.
He said the unions would defend their rights legally if the government moved ahead with its decision, he said.
Rajendran also questioned Chandy's argument that trade unionism was not allowed in defence establishments in other parts of the country.
"Trade unions are active in about 35 establishments of DRDO under Defence Ministry. Other establishments like HAL and BEL, also allow functioning of unions," he said.