Mangalore: Labour Unions Stage 'Jail Bharo' Campaign, Demand Rs 10,000 a Month
Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (PS)
Mangalore, Nov 8: As part of the nationwide 'jail bharo' campaign by labour unions urging fixation of minimum wage of Rs 10,000 per month, the district units of unions like BMS, INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU staged a protest in front of the head post office in Pandeshwar here on Tuesday November 8.
Addressing the protestors, B Madhava, secretary, district unit of CPI(M) said that though various labour unions had come together under one umbrella and protested against the government's apathy towards the working class people in the past, no action was taken. Instead, labourers' rights were restrained, he said.
"Contract 'system' is followed by many companies and minimum wages are not given to them," he pointed out and said pension should be given and gratuity should be hiked. He criticised Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahulwalia's Rs 32-a-day definition of poverty line and termed it baseless. "Even in government concerns like BSNL and post office, work is allotted on contract basis," he said.
BMS district president Vishwanath Shetty also urged minimum wages to be fixed at Rs 10,000 per month by amending the wages act. He also said that strong punishment should be imposed on those who violate the labour law and deny the rights of labourers.
Conrad Shekar, district leader of AITUC also addressed the gathering and said that Tuesday’s picketing is a warn to the central government. "If the government is not concerned about working class people, it will have to face the consequences," he warned.
As many as 200 labourers picketed the head post office. The protest took a dramatic turn as police took all of them into custody without much effort, and only a few opposed their arrest. They were later released. Police used two vehicles, one a hired private bus, to take them into custody.
CITU leaders Vasanth Achari, Sunil Kumar Bajal among others were also present.