Purnendu Bose

Calcutta, Sept. 21: Left-backed trade unions and the Congress’ Intuc today complained to labour minister Purnendu Bose that the state government was “trying to curb” their “democratic rights” by imposing restrictions on rallies and strikes.

Intuc working president Ramen Pandey said after the meeting: “Our union does not support calling strikes and organising rallies at the drop of a hat. But that does not mean the government has the right to curb the trade unions’ right to organise strikes and rallies against exploitation and victimisation at workplaces. This right is recognised by the International Labour Organisation.”

Citu state general secretary Kali Ghosh said his union was “staunchly against the way the government is trying to ban the trade unions’ right to organise strikes and rallies”. “The government should not take any final decision on this matter without consulting the trade unions,” he added.

Bose told the unions that the government had not prohibited strikes and rallies altogether. “I clarified to them that we had never said meetings and strikes would be prohibited. But if any union wants to organise a strike, it should give a written intimation to the government. We will try to resolve the matter through discussions. The union is free to call a strike if the problem is not solved,” he said.

Members of Trinamul trade union INTTUC were present at today’s meeting but they did have any grievances on the issue. “We should not resort to strikes and rallies without informing the government,” said Dola Sen, INTTUC president.

Bose told reporters at Writers’ that the state had suffered financially because several factories were closed down on “trivial issues” during the Left rule. “Our government wants factories to operate at any cost. We will intervene and try to resolve disputes every time either the unions or the managements try to lock out a factory,” the minister said.

He also warned that legal steps would be taken if the unions or managements tried to forcibly shut down a factory or call a strike on an issue that the government could have resolved through negotiations. “Suspension of work is the term commonly used by the unions or factory authorities planning to close down a unit. The term is not legal. Before taking any such step, the labour department should be given a notice from the authorities concerned,” Bose said.

The minister said the minimum daily wage of workers in Calcutta and its surrounding municipal areas would be raised to Rs 192 from Rs 162. The daily wage of workers in the rest of the state will be raised to Rs 181 from Rs 140.