CITU to Organise Parliament March on Dec 1 Demanding Withdrawal of Labour Codes
The four labour codes -- the Code of Wages (2019), Industrial Relations Code (2020), Code on Social Security (2020) and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code (2020) came into effect in November last year after being passed in Parliament
Kottayam: The trade union organisation, CITU, associated with the CPI(M), will organise a march to Parliament on December 1, demanding the withdrawal of the Labour Codes, its national general secretary, Elamaram Kareem, said here on Thursday.
Addressing a press conference, Kareem said workers from across the country would assemble at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on November 30 before marching towards Parliament the following day.
He said the protesters would stage a sit-in if police prevented them from proceeding towards Parliament.
"We are not planning to hold a conventional protest with an inaugural speech and a few speeches by leaders before dispersing. We intend to continue the agitation and have demanded an opportunity to meet the prime minister and the union labour minister. We have also written to them," he said.
Kareem said the primary demand was the withdrawal of the Labour Codes implemented by the Centre.
He said several nationwide strikes had been organised against the Labour Codes, which witnessed unprecedented participation by workers and trade unions across the country.
Despite the protests, the government had not taken any action on their demands, he alleged, adding that further agitations would be organised.
The four labour codes -- the Code of Wages (2019), Industrial Relations Code (2020), Code on Social Security (2020) and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code (2020) came into effect in November last year after being passed in Parliament.
However, opposition trade unions claim it is anti-labour law, leading to the exploitation of workers.
Meanwhile, the 16th state convention of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) will begin here on Friday.
Kareem said the convention was being held at a time when the trade union had experienced significant membership growth.
He said CITU's membership in Keralam had crossed 32 lakh and was nearing 33 lakh, compared with around 24 lakh at its previous state convention.
At the national level, its membership had increased to around 1.2 crore, he said.
The organisation has set a target of increasing its membership in Keralam to 38 lakh over the next two years, Kareem added.
