Hundreds of members affiliated to various trade unions held a procession and staged a road blockade in front of the railway station here on Thursday, as part of the nation-wide protest condemning the ‘anti-labour’ policies of the BJP government.
Madurai MP Su. Venkatesan, who led the procession, said that the Union government had amalgamated 44 labour laws into four codes, which is against the interests of the labour force. “This move of the Union government has undermined the protection given to the workforce all these years,” he said. He also said that the passage of farm bills by the government was against the interests of the farmers.
The protesters carried out a procession from the Kattabomman statue near Periyar Bus Stand to the railway station. Members of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), All India Trade Union Congress, Labour Progressive Federation and other trade unions took part in the protest.
CITU District Secretary R. Deivaraj said that the amalgamation of labour codes by the government was in favour of the Corporate giants. The protesters criticised the privatisation of public sector undertakings. They also demanded the need to provide social security benefits to unorganised workers.
The police arrested the protesters, who were then released in the evening.
The members of All India Insurance Employees' Association staged a protest in front of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) office at Sellur.
They also protested against the disinvestment of shares of the LIC.
