Addressing a press meet here on Monday, AITUC General Secretary H V Anantha Subba Rao said that the state government has not revised the wages of workers in minimum wage sector.

“We have demanded the state government to bring a notification fixing Rs 8,000 per month as minimum wage in the unorganised sector. The Dearness Allowance should be raised to 4 paise for every point of increase in the Consumer Price Index,” he added.

He said that the government should ensure that the workers in the unorganised sector are given social security measures like pension, gratuity, provident fund, medical facilities, delivery allowance, education facility for children, health insurance and housing. The state government is thinking of bringing a new pension scheme, which is not favourable to the unorganised sector workers. The wages in the unorganised sector is so low that the government should bear the entire cost of pension, he said. Stating that the retirement age of employees in private sector should be raised to 60 years, Rao said that the Draft Amendment to the Industrial Employment and Standing Orders Act should be finalised. He urged the government to see to it that the contract workers are paid equal wages on par with the regular/permanent workers. He also urged the government to amend Industrial Disputes Act 1947, so that the awards or judgements by the Labour Courts and Industrial Tribunal can be pronounced in open court. A law should be brought for compulsory recognition of Trade Union through secret ballot, he opined.

Parliament Chalo

The Central trade unions like AITUC, INTUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTC and TUCC will organise Parliament Chalo on February 23 against the pernicious economic, industrial, and agricultural policies of the Union government.