Government Initiatives on proposed Strike by the Central Trade Unions.

   As directed by the Prime Minister, senior Ministers in the Union Cabinet – Shri A.K. Antony, Defence Minister, Shri Sharad Pawar, Minister for Agriculture and Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Minister for Labour & Employment held a round of discussions with the representatives of the Central Trade Unions on the evening of 18th February to convey the serious intent of the Government to resolve the various issues raised in their charter of demands. The list of participants is at.

   The representatives of the Central Trade Unions reiterated their demand for the Government to take concrete measures to contain price rise, to ensure employment generation, strict enforcement of labour laws, universal social security for unorganized and organized workers, stoppage of disinvestment in Central and State Public Sector Undertakings. Some of the issues raised by them also related to payment of minimum wages of Rs.10,000/-, abolition of contract labour, payment of equal wages and benefits to contract workers at par with regular workers, removal of all ceilings on payment and eligibility of bonus, provident fund, increasing the quantum of gratuity, assured pension for all, compulsory registration of trade unions within 45 days and immediate ratification of the ILO Convention No.87 and 98.

  The Ministers explained to the representatives of the Central Trade Unions the various measures taken by the Government to control price-rise and contain inflation in the country. Particular attention was drawn to the huge food subsidy incurred by the Government to ensure availability of food grains to the poor at very concessional rates through the Public Distribution System. The Government’s efforts to pass the Food Security Bill in the Parliament will further increase the availability of subsidized food grains to the larger segments of the population and the Government is prepared to meet the extra burden on this account. The Government’s commitment to help the poor is also evident from the large amount of subsidy for fertilizers and fuel to ensure their supply at reasonable rate to the people.

   The Government is also keen to introduce amendments to the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970, Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and various other labour laws to improve the conditions of the workers and to give them substantial relief. A National Employment Policy is going to be announced shortly to encourage higher employment to women, to promote skill development and inclusive growth. Some of these proposals are going to be discussed in the meetings of the Union Cabinet shortly. The Government has already approved the National Manufacturing Policy in November, 2011 which envisages the creation of 100 million jobs in the country by 2022.

   The Ministers pointed out the huge loss to the economy in case the strike is resorted to by the Central Trade Unions. Apart from substantial production loss, the strike is also likely to cause inconvenience to the general public and loss of wages to the workers. In view of this, the Ministers appealed to the Central Trade Union Leaders to call off the strike.

   At the end of the meeting, the representatives of the Central Trade Unions informed that they are going to discuss the proposal of the Government in a meeting on 19th Feb., 2013 and take further decision on the proposed strike.

Source: PIB

Various forms of protest action on two days Nationwide General strike on 20th and 21st February,2013.

 

MOST IMMEDIATE

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
DEPARTMENT OF PERSONNEL & TRAINING
MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES
AND PENSIONS
NORTH BLOCK, NEW DELHI-110001

D.O. No. 33012/1(s)/2013-Estt-B

  Dated the 15th  February, 2013

Dear Sir/Madam,

   The Joint Platform of Action of Government and Associate Services Employee's Organizations — All India Committee has given a notice that the affiliated organizations of JPA and the mass of employees working in Government services throughout the country will boycott work and resort to various forms of protest action on two days Nationwide General strike on 20th  & 21 st  February, 2013 in pursuance of their Charter of Demands.

   2. The instructions issued by the Department of Personnel & Training prohibit the Government servants from participating in any form of strike including mass casual leave, go-slow etc. or any action that abet any form of strike in violation of Rule 7 of the CCS (Conduct) Rules, 1964. Besides, in accordance with the proviso to Rule 17 (1) of the Fundamental Rules, pay and allowances is not admissible to an employee for his absence from duty without any authority. As to the concomitant rights of an Association after it is formed, they cannot be different from the rights which can be claimed by the individual members of which the Association is composed. It follows that the right to form an Association does not include any guaranteed right to strike. There is no statutory provision empowering the employees to go on strike. The Supreme Court has also agreed in several judgments that going on a strike is a grave misconduct under the Conduct Rules and that misconduct by the Government employees is required to be dealt with in accordance with the law. Any employee going on strike in any form would face the consequences which, besides deduction of wages, may also include appropriate disciplinary action. In this connection, your kind attention is also drawn to this Department's OM No. 33012/1(s)/2008-Estt (B) (pt) dated 12th  September, 2008 (copy enclosed)

   3. A Joint Consultative Machinery for Central Government employees' is already functioning. This scheme has been introduced with the object of promoting harmonious relations and of securing the greatest measure of co-operation between the Government, in its capacity as employer, and the general body of its employees in matters of common concern, and with the object, further of increasing the efficiency of the public service. The JCM at the different levels have been discussing issues brought before it for consideration and either reaching amicable settlement or referring the matter to the Board of Arbitration in relation to pay and allowances, weekly hours of work and leave, whenever no amicable settlement could be reached in relation to these items.

   4. The Central Government Employees under your Ministry/Departments may, therefore, be suitably informed of the aforesaid instructions under the Conduct Rules issued by this Department and other regulations upheld by the Hon'ble Supreme Court and dissuaded from resorting to strike in any form. You may also issue instructions not to sanction Casual Leave or other kind of leave to employees if applied for, during the period of the proposed strike and ensure that the willing employees are allowed hindrance free entry into the office premises. For this purpose, Joint secretary (Admn) may be entrusted with the task of coordinating with security personnel. Suitable contingency plan may also be worked out to carry out the various functions of the Ministry/Department.

   5. In case the employees go on strike, a report indicating the number of employees who took part in the proposed strike may be conveyed to this Department on the evening of the day.

With kind regards,

Yours sincerely,

sd/-
(Manoj Joshi)

Source:http://ccis.nic.in/WriteReadData/CircularPortal/D2/D02est/Nationwide-General-15022013.pdf

Mallikarjun Kharge Assure Central Trade Union Leaders to Brief Prime Minister about issues Raised by them

   Mallikarjun Kharge Assure Central Trade Union Leaders to Brief Prime Minister about issues Raised by them
Appeal to the Central Trade Unions not to Inconvenience the General Public and the Workers and to Withdraw the Notice for the Proposed Strike.

   The Union Minister for Labour & Employment Shri Mallikarjun Kharge and the Minister of State for Labour & Employment Shri K.Suresh today met the representatives of eleven major Central Trade Unions here at Shram Shakti Bhawan in New Delhi to discuss the proposed country-wide General Strike on the 20th and 21st February, 2013. Senior officers of various Ministries also attended the meeting.

   The representatives of Central Trade Unions reiterated their demands for the Government to take concrete measures to contain price rise, to ensure employment generation, strict enforcement of labour laws, universal social security for unorganized and organized workers, stoppage of disinvestment in central and state public sector undertakings. Some of the specific issues raised by them related to payment of minimum wages of Rs.10,000/-, abolition of contract labour, payment of equal wages and benefits to contract workers at par with regular workers, removal of all ceilings on payment and eligibility of bonus, provident fund, increasing the quantum of gratuity, assured pension for all, compulsory registration of trade unions within 45 days and immediate ratification of the ILO Convention No. 87 and 98.

   The Minister for Labour & Employment thanked the representatives of trade unions for the keen interest shown by them to address the problems faced by workers and common people in the country. He explained the various initiatives taken by the Government to tackle these important issues in a sympathetic and time-bound manner. He particularly highlighted the amendments proposed by the Ministry of Labour & Employment to the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, National Floor Level Minimum Wage to workers and to the Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970 to make its enforcement stricter and labour-friendly. The steps taken by the Govt to provide for a minimum pension of Rs.1000/- to the EPF subscribers were explained. On the enforcement of labour laws the Minister clarified that both the Central and State Governments take effective measures for inspection of workplaces and prosecution is launched wherever irregularities are detected.

   The Minister reiterated that enacting labour legislation involves a tripartite process and employers, employees and State Governments are to be consulted. Therefore, it is a time-consuming process. The Govt is taking all necessary steps to enact various laws and amendments in consultation with the various stakeholders.

   The Minister informed the representatives of the Central Trade Unions about the various steps taken by the Government to control inflation, arrest price rise, promote investment and ensure industrial growth which will lead to greater employment opportunities. On disinvestment it was clarified that even after disinvestment Govt will retain 51% of the shareholding and management control of Central Public Sector Enterprises and partial disinvestment will not affect the public sector character of the CPSEs or their labour and employment policy.

   The Minister assured the Central Trade Unions that he will bring these developments to the notice of the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh . The representatives of Central Trade Unions requested that a final settlement of all the pending issues should be done without further loss of time. The Minister reiterated the sincere efforts being made by the Government to address the problems of the working class and the people. He appealed to the Central Trade Unions not to inconvenience the general public and the workers and to withdraw the notice for the proposed strike.

The following Trade Union Leaders were present in the meeting:

   S/Shri A. N. Dogra (BMS), G. Sanjiva Reddy (INTUC), Gurudas Dasgupta (AITUC), H.S.Sidhu (HMS), Tapan Sen (CITU), R.A. Mittal (HMS), R.K. Sharma (AITUC), G.Devarajan (TUCC), A.K. Padmanabhan (CITU), D.L.Sachdev (AITUC), Rajiv Dimri(AICCTU), S.K.Roy, AICCTU), M.Hhanmugam (LPF), Ashok Ghosh (UTUC) and P.J. Raju (UTUC).

The Various Ministries/Departments Officiers representatives were as under:

   S/Shri Dr. M. Sarangi, Secretary Labour & Employment; Ravi Mathur, Secretary, Deptt. of Disinvestment (DOD); D.S.Dhesi, AS, Commerce; Pramod Aggrawal JS, DOD, Sudha Krishnan, Joint Secretary, D’o Expenditure; Atul Chaturvedi, JS,DIPP; S.Sahu, Addl. Dev. Commidssioner, MSME; B.K.Sanwariya,CLC, M/o Labour & Employment, Shailesh Kumar Singh, JS,M/o Coal and B.S.Negi,CMS (Admn.) M/o Rural Development.

PIB