NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), an RSS affiliate trade union, dissociated from a general strike call on January 8 given by all trade unions, but it has given its own call for a nationwide protest on Friday against the Modi government's economic and labour policies.
Its headquarters has issued a directive to all its district units to ensure success of the protest to "awaken" the government. As the country's biggest trade union body, the BMS expressed disappointment on a range of issues, including contractual and casual mode of employments, disinvestment and privatisation of PSUs as all indiscriminate invite to FDI, particularly in the defence sector.
It has batted for corrective measures forthwith, while demanding regularisation of contract, fixed-term and casual, daily wage and temporary workers. Even while appreciating the government's move to club a plethora labour laws into four codes, the BMS is unhappy at the shoddy enforcement of the existing laws, including one on the minimum wages.
"It is necessary to create a sense of belongingness among the workers with industry," says BMS national general secretary Virijesh Upadhyay. He wanted the government to confer the status of the government servant on the workers under all its schemes, including anganwadi, ASHA, PDS, mid-day meal and NHM.
"These people work as hard as other government employees and hence deserve to be treated equally as other employees," Upadhyay said.
