The police took to custody 473 members of the CITU, including 40 women, when they tried to picket the Collectorate here on Tuesday in protest against the anti-labour policies pursued by both the Union and State Governments.
Led by V. Kumar, deputy general secretary of the Tamil Nadu unit of the CITU, hundreds of members, including women, squatted on the road raising slogans urging both the governments to do away with their anti-labour policies.
P. Panneerselvam, district president of the CITU; T. Udayakumar, district secretary; R. Vairamani and K. C. Gopikumar, CITU State committee members; were among those taken into preventive custody.
The CITU district committee alleged that the Narendra Modi led Union Government was bent on withdrawing various rights of the working class. The government, despite being in power for the last one year, has not taken any step to contain the raise in the prices of essential commodities, which has badly hit all sections of society. The Modi Government has initiated various steps for selling the shares of public sector undertakings. The government was evincing keen interest to promote multinational companies, totally ignoring the interest of the local micro and small scale units.
Various Acts and initiatives of the Centre only favoured the multinational corporations. The unorganised sector workers continued to suffer, and no step was taken to protect their interest in the last 68 years of Independence.
The CITU has been demanding that Rs. 1.15 lakh crore be allotted for the benefit of the unorganised sector workers, but the NDA Government was maintaining a stoic silence.
Referring to the functioning of the AIADMK Government in the State, the district committee said that it continued to ignore the interest of workers employed with transport, Tangedco, TWAD Board, cooperatives, mines, and anganwadi.
The State Government has so far not conceded the just demands such as eight hour work, minimum wages, legal protection, pension, and regularisation of service.
Namakkal
A total of 350 CITU members, including women, were taken to preventive custody when they attempted to picket the taluk office on the Mohanur road. P. Singaram, district treasurer, led the agitation. N. Velusamy, district secretary of the CITU, and others participated.
Erode
A total of 575 CITU members, including 67 women, were arrested when they attempted to picket the Corporation Bus Stand on Tuesday.
Assailing theanti-labourer policies of the Central and State Governments.
They raised slogans demanding minimum monthly salary of Rs. 15,000, regularisation of workers in jobs where permanency was possible, abolition of contract labour system, and prevention of privatisation of public sector concerns.
Their other demands included scrapping of Road Safety Bill 2014, desisting from formulating labour laws suiting corporate companies, abolition of the new pension scheme and restoration of the old one, control of prices of essential commodities, social security for workers in unorganised sector, fixing Rs. 4,000 as minimum pension, better functioning of welfare boards, and granting of maternity leave.Workers in transport, electricity, water supply, cooperative, rural development, railway, loadmen, construction workers, and auto drivers affiliated to CITU took part in the demonstration.
All the arrested persons were released later in the day.
