Govt must look for means other than divestment, FDI: BN Rai

BN Rai, president, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sabha said the trade union will continue to oppose all policies of the government that it considers to be wrong.

Denying that it has been asked to soften its opposition to government policies on labour and economic reforms by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), BN Rai, president, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sabha said the trade union will continue to oppose all policies of the government that it considers to be wrong. In an interview with Surabhi,

Rai however, seems to have toned down his criticism noting that the government is still new and does not know of many prevalent practices. Excerpts:

Is the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sabha facing pressure from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to tone down its opposition to government policies on labour and disinvestment?

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This is a hypothetical question. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh never interferes in the work of the BMS. We will continue to oppose all policies of the government, which we consider to be wrong.

Will the BMS be joining the proposed strike by Central trade unions on September 2?

Of course, we will be participating in it as we are the ones who have initiated the strike. There is no question that the BMS will not participate in it.

So do you continue to support other trade unions in their opposition to the government proposals on issues such as labour, disinvestment and bank privatisation?

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Yes, there will be no compromise on disinvestment, foreign direct investment (FDI) and privatisation. They must look at other means to raise investment.

At present, less than five per cent of the GDP has come in from foreign direct investment. So why is the government so keen on it? We are in dialogue with them on how industrial development can be promoted in the country.

What about amendments to labour laws that the Centre and many states are working on?

The government is doing a lot of things out of ignorance as it has been just a year since they were elected and so they do not know of many practices. For example, they did not know of having tripartite meetings with trade unions and employer representatives on their proposals. We told them, this is the norm and now they are following it. Similarly, we had to point out that the Indian Labour Conference meets every year but it did not meet last year. So now, they have scheduled the ILC as well. We are in talks with the labour minister as well as other ministers on these issues.

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Do you think that the trade union movement is losing steam given that the government is going ahead with its proposals on most issues?

How has it weakened? The government was earlier trying to go ahead with labour law amendments on its own. Now, they have agreed that they must do tripartite meetings to get the views of all stakeholders, they have organised the ILC. So, they are agreeing to our demands.