Members of 10 central trade unions and 40 independent federations staged a protest at Azad Maidan on Tuesday, as part of the two-day nationwide strike.
“We demand that contract labourers and outsourced labourers be made permanent. We also appeal to people to refrain from casting votes in the favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party if the policies introduced by the Narendra Modi government are not withdrawn. Most of the provisions are anti-labour and anti-national,” M.A. Patil, president, National Trade Union Initiative, said.
The unions also demanded minimum wages of ₹18,000 for employees and farmers, a pension of ₹3,000, steps to control inflation, and a hike in the provident fund, gratuity and bonus to workers.
Vishwas Utagi, convenor, Trade Union Joint Action Committee, said they have two weapons, strikes and the power to vote, which they will definitely use if the demands are not met. “Every one knows that instead of creating jobs, which is the supposed agenda of the Central government, almost three lakh small and large industries have collapsed. Further, over 1.5 crore jobs have been lost following demonetisation and the implementation of GST. The government should focus on the creation of jobs instead of introducing reservations in the existing ones.”
A majority of the people who gathered for the protest work in anganwadi schools. “We want the government to increase our salary. It is very difficult to manage with the existing earnings. We have been protesting for so long but have not got any positive response,” Manthana Patil, an anganwadi worker, said.
The protest also saw participation from employees with the Railways, banks, post offices, BSNL, port trust and defence.
The strike coincided with the one called by the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST). “We support the BEST strike as we are against the privatisation of the undertaking. Moreover, it is important for the government to focus on strengthening of the Railways rather than implementing the plans for bullet trains in Mumbai,” Mr. Utagi said.
