 "BJP's labour arm softens stand on retrenchment, EPFO investment")
Trade unions have threatened a strike on May 26, the first anniversary of the NDA government, unless their concerns on labour law changes, price rise, and foreign direct investment are addressed.
Power Minister Piyush Goyal, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha and Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya on Friday met central trade unions to discuss their 10-point charter of demands.
The unions strongly protested against some proposed amendments to labour laws, saying that these "unilateral" changes by the Narendra Modi government were anti-worker, said a PTI report. Twelve unions attended the meeting called by the government to discuss their 10-point agenda and issues relating to certain proposed amendments to labour laws, which were opposed by them earlier.
"These labour reforms are unilateral and anti-worker. We are most likely to decide the date for a nationwide strike at a national convention of central trade union on May 26," All India Trade Union Congress Secretary D L Sachdev said.
"This government is not giving any heed to labour issues. Two of the ministers came late. They are not dealing with labour issues," Centre of Indian Trade Unions President A K Padmanabhan said, according to the PTI report.
The government has proposed allowing companies employing up to 300 workers to lay them off without seeking official sanction. Currently, companies employing up to 100 workers are allowed to do this. Laid off workers are proposed to be paid an average salary of 45 days worked every year, instead of 15 days at present.
A government official said the BMS was positive about the new registration clause for trade unions. According to a proposal, a trade union will be deemed registered if the registrar fails to issue a certificate within 60 days of application. The Centre had formed a committee to discuss changes to laws governing retrenchment and trade union formation. The committee, which included BMS President B N Rai and Indian National Trade Union Congress chief Sanjeeva Reddy, had held its first meeting on May 6. It has two representatives each from employers and state governments. Rai said he could not attend the meeting due to prior engagements and Sharma was asked to represent the trade union.
The BMS has also partly agreed to the decision by the Central Board of Trustees of the Employees Provident Funds Organisation to invest a portion of the money in stock markets.
"M Jagadishwara Rao (vice-president of the BMS) has stated the government should stand as guarantee if at all EPFO funds are to be invested in equity," said the minutes of a recent meeting of the trustees.
The trustees approved a proposal by the finance ministry to invest 5-15 per cent of EPFO funds in equity and related instruments after considering views of both employees and employers.
Trade unions voiced their opposition when told the new pattern of investment suggested by the finance ministry was binding on the EPFO. The Centre of Indian Trade Unions associated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the All India Trade Union Congress affiliated to Communist Party of India, and the Hind Mazdoor Sabha opposed the proposal.
The Indian National Trade Union Congress, affiliated with the Congress, also said the government should stand guarantee if investment of EPFO funds were allowed in equity.
Trade unions oppose investing EPFO money in equity fearing exposure to market fluctuation. This is the first time the labour ministry has agreed to the proposal after consultation with the trustees. The government plans to invest 5 per cent of the EPFO's incremental corpus initially in exchange-traded funds in 2015-16.