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Eleven central trade unions, including Bharatiya Janata Party-supporting Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), will protest against the labour reforms in Rajasthan next month. President Pranab Mukherjee had given his approval to the new laws on Friday. The unions, however, will not move court against the new laws.
"We will go to the 'people's court' to raise our voice. The state-level conventions are already taking place in many parts of the country including Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh," said A K Padmanabhan, president of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, associated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
B N Rai, general secretary of BMS, said, "There is no point in going to court right now" and that the unions will hold demonstrations on December 5. "All the central trade unions will go for demonstrations and there will be nationwide protests," Rai added.
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The trade unions will also organise a sit-in protest in Delhi on December 5. "We will decide the future course of action only after this dharna," said Padmanabhan.
After a national convention on September 15, the unions had adopted a declaration condemning the labour law amendments. They said such changes would result in "rampant casualisation of employment", "push majority of factories" out of labour law coverage and empower the employers to retrench workers at will.
