Industry and trade unions are interdependent and they need to understand and trust each other better, West Bengal Labour Minister Moloy Ghatak said here today.
"West Bengal offers a wide range of fiscal and policy incentives for businesses and several measures have been taken to attract greenfield investments," Ghatak said.
"But, all these efforts to attract industry and investments will not bear fruit if a healthy relationship between Industry and Trade Unions does not exist," he said after inaugurating a CII organised session of Industry-Trade Union Dialogue Forum 2017.
Ghatak said, "The West Bengal Government is ready to welcome enterprising entrepreneurs to our state to partner us in the state's growth and development process."
"I assure you of our complete cooperation and support. We are continuously working towards development of industry in the state," he said.
Ghatak also urged trade unions to seek the state government's intervention whenever negotiation failed to straighten curves instead of work stoppage, lock outs or strikes.
"Under the leadership of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal has laid the foundation for a modern and more balanced economy that will produce new jobs, vibrant new businesses and lots of wealth for innovators," Ghatak said.
Earlier, Umesh Chowdhary, Chairman, CII Eastern Region, spoke on how industrial relations in West Bengal have "undergone a sea change".
He said the perception about it as a business-friendly state would get a further boost if the message is communicated powerfully and widely across the globe.
"The number of strikes and bandhs here has been reduced significantly," he said.
Lauding the state government for rapid industrial growth and development, Chowdhary said "The State has strong potential to develop into a vibrant economy with strong growth in agriculture, industry and services sector.
"One of our major focuses has been to promote West Bengal across India and across the globe," he said.
Dr Onkar Sharma, Regional Labour Commissioner, Union Ministry of Labour and Employment, underscored the need for a mechanism to facilitate continuous dialogues among all stakeholders.
The government is also serious about rationalising the labour laws and simplifications of the language. It is in favour of rewriting labour in a simple language, Sharma said.
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