Ministerial panel to meet trade unions tomorrow

The inter-ministerial panel headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will meet the representatives of trade unions tomorrow to discuss their 12-point charter of demands on labour issues.
The meeting assumes significance as it is scheduled about a week ahead of central trade unions' call for strike on September 2.
The inter-ministerial committee on labour issues will hold a meeting with 12 central trade unions on August 26 to discuss 12-point charter of demands, a union leader said.
About a dozen central trade unions, including BJP-backed Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), have given a call for one-day strike on September 2 to press for their demands.

Trade unions and government are at loggerheads over a 12-point charter of demands and labour reforms.
The BJP-backed BMS is expecting the government to blink tomorrow and offer something concrete.

"We are not going on strike for the heck of it. If government agrees to our demands even an hour before the strike, we can revisit our decision," BMS General Secretary Virjesh Upadhyay said.
However, All India Trade Unions Congress Secretary D L Sachdev said, "We are not expecting any assurance from the government. We had explained them about the issues and our demands. Now we will listen to their views on it tomorrow."

"I don't think that the government will give assurance that they will not change the labour laws with unions' consent or increase the minimum wage to Rs 15,000 per month," he added.
This will be the second meeting of inter-ministerial committee. The members of the panel are Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Power Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh.
The government had set up the high-level inter-ministerial committee to evolve a consensus on labour reforms and other issues in May. But the panel failed to make any substantive headway in its first meeting on July 19.

Trade unions' 12-point charter of demands includes urgent measures to contain price rise, contain unemployment, strict enforcement of basic labour laws, Universal Social Security Cover for all workers, Minimum Wages of Rs 15,000/- per month.
They are also demanding enhanced pension for workers, stoppage of disinvestment in PSUs, stoppage of contractorisation, removal of ceiling on bonus and provident fund, compulsory registration of Trade Unions within 45 days, no amendment to labour laws unilaterally, stopping of FDI in Railways, Defence etc.
Several rounds of discussions have taken place between the Government and the Central Trade Unions on the demands.