Trade unions demand unemployment-wage for workers

AUGUST 11: In the backdrop of an increasing number of lockout and closures in the state, and a climbing number of people rendered jobless ...

AUGUST 11: In the backdrop of an increasing number of lockout and closures in the state, and a climbing number of people rendered jobless due to the new economic policy, the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) today demanded that the state government grant an unemployment-dole to the workers.

The demands were declared at a rally held despite the pouring rains, at Azad Maidan where workers from Kolhapur to Nanded and Nashik gathered. General secretary of CITU, K L Bajaj called upon the state government to have a meeting with the trade unions on various issues facing the working class, within a month. The threat of an agitation if the deadline is not met, was made since Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had apparantly agreed to meet the trade union leaders, but then backed off.

“We were given an appointment on August 10, ie Thursday, at 3 pm, since our list of demands had already been given to him. However, we were told that the Chief minister suddenly fell ill and was unable to meet us, yesterday. Yet, we later found out that the CM had held all his meetings yesterday, and in fact has flown off to Latur today, when we are holding this meeting,” said Bajaj, as the crowd gathered, shouted, shame, shame’.

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Bajaj then went on to give a deadline of September 15, 2000 to the government, failing which he said that the workers would begin agitations in the state, which would include rasta roko and gherao of government officials.

The various demands listed out by the CITU includes, apart from an unemployment wage, to take a complete re-look at the New Economic Policy, stop the contract labour and job work system taking place in various companies and provide as some kind of a pressure on the industrialists against closures and lockouts.

“While we have been at the forefront against the New Economic Policy ever since it was introduced, we feel that now this has become a rallying point since many such affected small scale and big industrialists are talking about an alternative economic policy,” said Dr Vivek Monteiro, secretary of the CITU Maharashtra State Committee.

As Monteiro stated, at least Rs 3800-Rs 4000 crore has been collected by the state government through professional tax that has seen a steep hike from a nominal Rs 30 to Rs 200.“The state is collecting this money ostensibly for setting up Employment Guarantee Scheme, yet none of the schemes get implemented. The money can then be used to pay the unemployment dole,” he said.

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He estimated that at least four lakh workers, including the textile mill workers have lost jobs in the city while there have been around 40,000 closures and lockouts in the entire state in the last few years.“It is not an accident, but a consequence of the NEP,” he said. The fact that the purchasing power of people have fallen can be noted from the submission made by the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) before the Maharashtra Electricty R. Commission, that the consumption of electricity has fallen, for the first time in 50 years since Independence, said Monteiro.