Leaders of trade unions to go on hunger strike to protest against amendment of labour laws: Tapan Sen

All leaders of the trade unions will go on hunger strike on Friday to protest against the amendment of Labour Laws, CPI-M leader Tapan Sen said on Thursday.

"On Friday, while all workers will be protesting in front of their offices, factory gates, or on streets, the leaders of the trade unions will take part in sit-in and launch a hunger strike to protest against the amendment of labour laws. The protest will start at 11 am," Sen told .

He said that "further resistance action will be seen in the days to come whenever the workplaces open" if their demands are not met.

Citing the reason behind the strike amid the coronavirus lockdown, the MP said that despite assurance that the workers cannot be terminated, wages are to be paid fully and nobody should be forced to leave their residence, such instances have regularly happened.

He said trade unions have sent several complaints to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Labour Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar highlighting the seriousness of the matter.

The Central Labour Secretary alone has sent 25 complaints covering around 70 sectors where either people were terminated or wages were not given including media, Sen said, adding, "Nothing has yet been done."

He alleged that the advantage was taken of lockdown and labour laws were amended.

"They did not just change the law but dismantled the labour law completely. The theatre of operation was first Uttar Pradesh followed by Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, and several other states. It is against the law to increase the working hours from 8 to 12 hours and ignoring the basic necessities of the workers, throwing them to destitution and death," he alleged.

"We have been continuously demanding that the workers need to be supported through direct measures like universal food support as we have a stock of 77 million foodgrains. There should be cash support of Rs 7,500 per month for a period of 3 months to all non-income tax paying households," he added.

( With inputs from ANI )