A ministerial panel headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is expected to meet central trade unions to discuss their 12-point charter of demands in view of their call for a nationwide strike on September 2.
Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya met representatives of a dozen central trade unions yesterday to apprise them about steps being taken regarding their demands.
"Yesterday, the minister himself mentioned about the strike call given by unions on September 2 in his opening remarks during the meeting. The minister and officials gave clear indications that the panel will soon meet us," All India Trade Union Congress Secretary D L Sachdev told PTI.
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"Government has to step up its efforts to explain its position to trade unions on the charter as time is running out. The units of unions will have to give notice by August 17 for the September 2 strike," he added.
Ten central trade unions had gone on a nationwide strike over the 12-point charter of demands last year on September 2.
Earlier this year, they decided to go on strike on the same date again in view of government's indifference towards the demands.
"The ministerial panel headed by Jaitley had met unions' representatives to discuss the charter of demands on August 26-27, 2015. The ministerial panel has not met us since then. After a period of over 10 months, Labour Minister called us yesterday to discuss the charter," Sachdev said.
He further said that RSS affiliate Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) had decided to opt out of strike last time but will take a final call on this in its working committee meeting scheduled on August 10, 2016.
Central trade unions have proposed a nationwide strike on September 2 to press for their demands, including minimum monthly wage of Rs 18,000, minimum assured pension of Rs 3,000, no foreign direct investment in sectors like railways, defence and insurance, among others.
The minister, who met union leaders after a gap of 10 months on the issue, has said that the government is working on eight of their demands and there has been progress on seven issues.
"The proposal regarding minimum wages has been sent to Law and Justice Ministry. We will sent this proposal for Cabinet approval to fix a universal minimum wage," the minister had said yesterday.
Sachdev said the government has indicated that it is keen on fixing Rs 12,000 as national minimum wage for Tier-I cities like Delhi and Mumbai, Rs 10,000 for Tier-II and Rs 8,500 for Tier-III cities for unskilled workers.
At present, the National Floor Level Minimum Wage is Rs 160 per day for unskilled workers.
