'Centre is using diversionary tactics to divide people'

Instead of concentrating on the economy of the country, the BJP-led Central government is engaged in diverting the attention of the people towards amended Citizenship Act and National Register of Citizens (NRC), which is against the social fabric of the counry, alleged AITUC General Secretary Amarjith Kaur.

She appealed to the working class to defeat the policies of polarization, communal division and diversionary tactics that distract them from their issues of livelihood. The working class should stand united and oppose amended Citizenship Act and NRC as these instruments are used to create mistrust and hatred among communities, she told mediapersons on Saturday.

The government persists by using diversionary tactics to raise emotional non-issues to divide the people of the country when the economy is in bad state, she said.

10 Trade unions

A convention of 10 central trade unions, federations and associations of workers have called for a nationwide general strike on January 8 to protest against the Centre’s economic and labour policies.

Terming Modi government’s policies as ‘anti-worker, anti-people, anti-national’, Kaur said the adverse effects of the slowdown were being felt by the workers in both the unorganised and organised sectors in the form of large-scale retrenchment and closure of several small scale industries.

Codification

Kaur said in the name of ‘ease of business’ the forcible codification of 44 laws into four was carried forward ignoring trade union view points.

The period is witnessing attack on labour rights and pro-employer changes in labour laws. The outsourcing and contractualisation was carried out rampantly while all existing labour laws and Supreme Court judgement were simply ignored by the Centre. After taking over power in its second tenure, the government is hell bent to sell PSUs, including Navratnas, and privatising government sector enterprises and businesses, she alleged.

She said out of 600 railway platforms, already 43 had been auctioned. Airports are also being privatised in the country.

The government has not only failed in addressing the day-to-day problems and issues of the lives of labour class, but is also continuously following the policy of reducing taxation on big business corporates and increasing the indirect tax and cess on common people.

She said government has enhanced its attack on trade unions with code on wage already passed weakening all structures of wage fixations, code on safety, code on social security and code on industrial relations have also been introduced in Parliament which attacks the existing rights of workers/employees, threatening job security, pushing fix term employment, increasing working hours and enhancing hire and fire system.

Reverse policies

The trade unions are seeking reversal of retrograde anti-worker and anti-national policies, she added.