JOIN USAll India Central Council of Trade Union (AICCTU) national vice president and CPI(ML) politburo member V Shankar urged the Centre to fix the minimum wage for workers at Rs 21,000 a month and withdraw the recent amendments made to labour laws.
Speaking at May Day programme organised here on Monday, he said recent amendments made to labour laws are against the interest of the working class.
Shankar said that increasing the minimum wage to Rs 21,000 a month is necessary, not only to help the workers, but also in the interest of the country’s growth. Though the recent notification of the Central government has fixed the minimum wages at Rs 16,500, it has not yet been implemented in all sectors.
By making ESI not mandatory for the labourers, the Centre is helping the insurance mafia, he charged.
Stating that Port Workers’ Association and AICCTU have been opposing the privatisation of ports, he said shipping and transport companies connected to New Mangalore Port should provide minimum wages, ESI and all the facilities announced by the labour department to the labourers. The labourers, who work for more than eight hours, should be paid additional income, he demanded.
Shankar said that the NMPT chairman and deputy commissioner should intervene and solve the problems of shipping labourers. The government should abolish contract and outsourcing system of employment in all sector, he said.
In India, Labour Day was observed on May 1, 1923 at Marina Beach in Chennai for the first time. The red flag is a symbol of the struggle of the labour class, he added.
Akhila Bharatha Praja Vedike State convener Lakshminarayana said the labour class should be united against Hindutva communal forces in the coastal belt. The communal forces are conspiring to divide the society. It is a dangerous trend. The working class should come to power, he added.
Prior to the stage programme, the members of All India Central Council of Trade Union Dakshina Kannada unit and All India Port Workers’ Federation took out a procession from Ambedkar Circle to Mini Vidhana Soudha.
City Street Vendors’ Association and Headload Workers Association observed Labour Day by organising a programme to felicitate the senior members of the association.
DH News Service