Patna, July 10: All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) today blamed the Centre as well as the state government for the price rise and woes of the workers.

R.N. Thakur, the general secretary of AITUC, called for building a joint trade union movement against skyrocketing prices, privatisation, contract system and anti-labour policies of the central and state governments.

Thakur was speaking at the 19th convention of Bihar State Land Reforms Employees’ Federation at Engineers Bhavan in R-Block on Sunday. Thakur said: “Workers’ benefits have been curtailed because of the Union and state government’s faulty policies.”

He added that after Independence, the Indian government had started various schemes to propel development but with time the rights of workers’ have been snatched by the state and the central governments leaving capitalist forces in the country to flourish.

Thakur said contract appointments, too, have added to the woes of the workers. “Contractual appointments have led to exploitation,” added Thakur. He also said during the ’70s, rights of workers were protected as the government kept tabs on their policies.

Kanti Kumar Singh, the general secretary of the body said: “The American economy is passing through a bad phase because of globalisation and to hide their weakness they are blaming the poor nations.”