The RSS-affiliated workers’ organisation Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh on Monday asked its State units to oppose the “unilateral withdrawal of labour laws” that some States have implemented and others are considering.
The statement by BMS general secretary Virjesh Upadhyay comes at a time when BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have come out with employer-friendly changes to labour laws.
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The BMS asked all its units to write to their respective Chief Ministers to “stop withdrawal of labour laws and ask them to discuss with trade unions on every step taken in the labour sector”.
“The State governments have not so far been able to convince the public how the laws are hurdles in economic activities...On the contrary, for the labour, the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation has created an extraordinary situation of massive economic losses and job losses...” the BMS said, adding that the workers’ issues needed urgent attention.
The trade body told its State units to ask the Chief Ministers for detailed road maps for economic activities and employment generation after the effect of COVID-19 ends, it said.
Madhya Pradesh pushes working hours from eight to 12 in factories
Citing the recent incidents of gas leak in Visakhapatnam and deaths of migrant workers run over by a train in Aurangabad, the BMS said the situation in the labour sector was ‘grave’. It asked its State units to set up help desks for migrant workers to address immediate concerns.
“The BMS demands the governments to make smooth arrangements for free train travel for the migrant workers who want to meet their family members in their home States. Those workers who want to resume work should be given free transport facilities to workplaces in the absence of public transport.”
Contempt for labour: On dilution of labour laws
It asked the government to provide wage support in the green and orange zones where activities have started as payment of wages was an “immediate major issue”, it said.
