Standoff between TUs, government on Unorganised bill continue

New Delhi, Feb 14 (UNI) Taking umbrage at the government's ''casual'' approach to the plight of workers in the unorganised sector, the central trade unions, including the BMS, today asked the Centre to bring in comprehensive legislation in the Budget session of Parliament to protect employment and guarantee of minimum wages to over 370 million workers.

''The draft Bill, as put on the Labour ministry's website, has left out the regulation of employment, government allocation to the fund and guarantee of minimum wages, among other things,'' said as many as nine Trade Unions in a joint memorandum to the Labour and Employment Minister.

''The draft Bill simply authorises the government to prepare rules and regulations. This is in a way the same bill with slight modifications, which has already been rejected by the TUs,'' CITU president M K Pandhe told UNI, adding that the Centre must allocate three per cent of the GDP to ensure a permanent mechanism for the purpose.

Saying that the implementation of this draft would allow the states to frame their own laws, Mr Pandhe sought to know the ''purpose'' of the draft Bill.

Reacting to the Labour ministry inviting suggestions from the stake holders on its website, AITUC Secretary S N Thakur said proper consultations should have been held with the representatives of the TUs first.

Mr Thakur said the joint memorandum representing the AICCTU, HMS and INTUC, TUCC, UTUC and UTUC(LS) called for protecting the right to livelihood, occupational health and safety, applicability of other labour laws and the dispute resolution mechanism.

AITUC National Secretary D L Sachdev said the legislation should have provisions for extending floor-level social security benefits for all by way of state funding and the Union government should also contribute a mimimum of three per cent of the GDP towards this end.

The trade unions also took a serious view of the ministry's attempts to put the NGOs ''on par'' with the trade unions. ''There is no reason to put them on par with trade unions as the NGOs are accountable to no one except its patrons,'' the memorandum said, while urging the Labour Minister to convene a meeting of the TUs.

They also requested the Minister to refer to the unanimous recommendations of the tripartite National Seminar convened by the ministry at Vigyan Bhawan here on November 7-8, 2002. They said the measures suggested therein should also be considered.

They also reminded the ministry that the last Indian Labour Conference (ILC) constituted a tripartite committee to draft the bill keeping in view the suggestions made by TUs and others and various other drafts in circulation. ''Only one meeting of the Committee has been called and it was decided to redraft the Bill in accordance with the suggestions given in the ILC,'' the memorandum added.

UNI