Sept 2 strike: Unions ask units to serve notices well in time

To mobilise workers for their proposed strike on September 2, central trade unions have asked their affiliated units to serve legal notices to various entities in advance for ensuring wider participation in the protest, including from unorganised sectors.
As per legal requirement, trade unions of every company and organisation have to serve separate notices at least two weeks in advance for the purpose.
Thus, central trade unions have asked their units to complete all formalities by August 17 for going on strike to press for their demands.
"We have asked all our units in different organisations to make sure that legal notice for strike is served by August 17 to complete the formality two weeks in advance," Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) General Secretary Vrijesh Upadhyay told PTI.

"Our telecom unit has already service the notice of strike. We have sent our resolution to go on strike to our units. We are expecting around 40 crore workers including from the unorganised sector to go on strike," he said.
"Since the unorganised sector workers are not covered under the Industrial Dispute Act, we have asked them to give notice for strike to respective district administration," he added.

All India Trade Union Congress Secretary D L Sachdev said, "All central trade unions will have to mobilise the workers to go on strike on September 2. Thus we have asked our units to serve notice well in time."

He further said, "Neither government nor its panel headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitely has given any indication that they want to review their unilateral labour reforms and work on our 12-points charter of demand. Thus we are going on strike on September 2 to lodge our protest."
Trade unions and government are at loggerheads over a 12-point charter of demands and labour reforms.
The government had set up a high-level inter-ministerial committee under Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to evolve a consensus on labour reforms and other issue in May. But the panel failed to make any substantive headway in its first meeting held on July 19.

The unions have strongly opposed some of the amendments that include norms related to easing retrenchment, lay offs and closure of units provision and forming unions under the proposed New Industrial Relations Code.
As many as 12 trade unions, including BJP-backed Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, had decided to observe nationwide strike on September 2 against various issues, it their national convention in May this year.