 "Trade unions urge FM to prioritise jobs, 8th Pay Commission, MGNREGA boost")
Representatives from the central trade unions (TUs) on Monday pressed the government for immediate constitution of the 8th Pay Commission and filling up existing vacancies in central government departments and public sector undertakings (PSUs) in a bid to accelerate job creation.
In their customary pre-Budget meeting with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, TU leaders also demanded an increase in allocations for rural job guarantee scheme MGNREGA to provide a guarantee of 200 days of work for each family.
Besides, the TUs also demanded increase of income tax exemption rebate limit to Rs 10 lakh per annum, social security scheme for gig workers, and restoration of old pension scheme (OPS) for government employees. They also sought an increase in the minimum pension under Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to Rs 5,000 per month.
On the issue of implementation of the new labour codes, three trade unions — Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), National Front of Indian Trade Unions (NFITU), and Trade Union Coordination Centre (TUCC) — conveyed their support to the government for two codes, Code on Wages and Code on Social Security. However, the remaining central TUs — All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), among others — demanded scrapping of all the four labour codes.
“Immediately notify Code on Wages 2019 & Code on Social Security 2020. Remove anti-worker provisions in the other two codes and notify the rest of the provisions in them. Legislation of schemes should be a key priority for labour-centric schemes,” said Pawan Kumar, north zonal organising secretary, BMS.
Virat Jaiswal, national general secretary, NFITU, said that the Budget should also allocate higher funding to the startup and gig economy, strengthen the skilling ecosystem of India, raise the income tax ceiling, and allocate funds for implementation of decent work convention under International labour Organisation (ILO).
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“All the four labour codes enacted repealing 29 labour statutes must be repealed and scrapped. The said 29 labour statutes should be restored. Minimum wages of not less than Rs 26,000 per month with indexation must be fixed,” said Amarjeet Kaur, general secretary, AITUC.
A memorandum submitted by the joint forum of 10 central TUs read that a Union government-sponsored social security fund for unorganised workers and agricultural workers has to be set up to provide them with defined universal social security schemes. Besides, the memorandum called for increase in corporate tax and wealth tax, and introduction of inheritance tax instead of burdening common masses with goods and services tax (GST) on essential food items and medicine. It also demanded that privatisation of PSUs be stopped.
Drawing attention to the condition of domestic workers, Sheo Prasad Tiwari, national general secretary, TUCC, said that they should be given worker status and provided with social security, with contributions from resident welfare associations (RWAs).
The demands
Boost rural job scheme (200 workdays/family)
Raise income tax exemption to Rs 10 lakh
Universal fund for unorganised workers
Raise EPFO pension to Rs 5,000; set minimum wage at Rs 26,000
Remove GST on essentials like food and medicines