Labour unions warn of agitation

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, February 16

Eight labour unions under the banner of Joint Platform of Rural and Agriculture Workers today staged a protest in the district in support of their long-pending demands. The workers protested in front of Gurdwara Sahib Haji Rattan for hours and demanded that the government fulfil their demands at the earliest or face an agitation.

They claimed that these eight unions would stage a protest at the tehsil-level across the state from February 15 to 18 to get their demands fulfilled. In case the government failed to meet their demands, the labour unions have planned to march to Chandigarh and stage a protest there on March 15.

Mahipal, a member of the union, said, “Our demands are pending for a long time but the government has failed to meet them.

The government has to abolish the ‘black’ laws that are against the constitutional right to protest peacefully. MNREGA labourers are not getting wages even as they have worked for many months. We also demand that the wages be increased up to Rs 500 under the Act and all the family members should get employment for a full year. Besides, we demand that the amount of pension under social security be increased to Rs 3,000. The landless labourers were allotted plots by the government in 2002 but nothing has been done in this regard. The possession of these plots has not been given yet and this should be done at the earliest.”