Factories bill: Central trade unions to launch stir

On the warpath in the wake of the factories bill being brought forward by the Centre and the Rajasthan government, the central trade unions, including the RSS-affiliated Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), today decided to go in for a massive agitation.

A joint meeting presided by Congress-backed INTUC chief G Sanjeeva Reddy expressed deep concern at the reported unilateral move to amend the labour laws by a number of state governments and by the Centre.

BMS General Secretary Brajesh Upadhyay, Gurudas Dasgupta of AITUC, Tapan Sen of CITU, Harbhajan Singh of HMS and R Chandrashekhar, INTUC Vice President, were among those who attended the meeting.

It was decided at the meeting that a joint national convention would be held in New Delhi in the first week of September to intensify the nation-wide agitation.

"The Rajasthan Assembly has passed three amendments which, in our view, are... detrimental to the rights and livelihoods of the working people at large. The whole process is aimed at weakening the tripartite consultation mechanism," they said.