Labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday and briefed him about the steps the government is planning to avert the strike.
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Banks, government offices and factories will be closed on Friday across the country, the unions have warned.
The government will be reaching out to the unions again in an attempt to convince them to call off the strike, according to the sources who attended the meeting. Goyal and Dattatreya are part of the five-member ministers’ panel on labour issues, which is chaired by Finance minister Arun Jaitley, to talk to the CTUs over the 12-point charter of demands.
The unions are also opposed to the recent easing of rules by the government, for foreign investment, particularly in sectors like pharmaceutical and defence. This year, too, the BMS is holding back on its decision to join the strike, anticipating a positive response from the government.
The country’s main trade unions are all set to go on a nation-wide strike in protest against the government’s economic policies and labour laws on September 2.
The unions had put forward a 12-point agenda, including minimum wages of Rs 18,000 a month in line with the seventh pay commission award for central government employees. The workforce affiliated to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has confirmed to join the strike.
The unions’ charter of demands, includes hiking of minimum wages, providing social security to scheme workers, and speedy registration of trade unions.
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Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has opposed the strike and directed all employees to report to work on September 2, adding that all vehicles would ply and shops would remain open. If vehicles and shops are damaged (by bandh supporters), we will take strong action. A bandh means loss of thousands of crores of rupees a day. We will keep everything open. “We will also give compensation”, Banerjee told reporters, adding that the state can not afford a bandh when it is under a debt of Rs. 40,000 crore.
