Following up on their Bharat bandh on September 7, trade unions on Tuesday decided to intensify their agitation against the government's economic policies ahead of next year's budget with a massive march to Parliament on February 23.
The decision was taken jointly by the All India Trade Union Congress, the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, the Hind Mazdoor Sabha and the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) here at a meeting presided by INTUC president D. Sanjeev Reddy. The unions alleged that the Centre had not taken any effective action on their demands.
The unions are protesting the “pro-capitalist and anti-labour attitude” of the United Progressive Alliance government.
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Veteran Communist Party of India leader Gurudas Dasgupta said the decision was a historical move forward and a turning point in the history of the united trade union movement cutting across several political barriers to confront the attack of the government on the working people.
The unions accused the government of failure to check price rise, violation of labour laws, arbitrary retrenchment in factories, disinvestment of public sector undertakings, and creation of temporary jobs rather than permanent ones leading to insecurity in the working class.