Date:11/04/2007 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/04/11/stories/2007041102012100.htm

Back CITU seeks law for unorganised sector labour

Our Bureau

Mangalore April 10 The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) has urged the Union Government to bring out a comprehensive legislation on labourers in the unorganised sector.

Addressing newspersons here on Tuesday, Mr V.J.K. Nair, Vice-President of CITU, said that a comprehensive legislation is needed to regulate the service condition of labourers in the unorganised sector, including agricultural labourers.This would require revenue authorities to identify each worker in the unorganised sector in their respective areas, to ensure minimum wages and other social security measures for the worker. He saidtripartite committees should be formed at the State-level to fix subsistence-level minimum wages.

List of demands

Mr Nair said the all-India office-bearers of CITU had met in New Delhi recently and come out with a list of demands.

The Government was also asked to arrest the increase in the prices of essential commodities. Custom duties that affect agriculture and traditional industries should be withdrawn, and cheap credits should be disbursed to farmers and agricultural labourers, he said.

Stating that the State Contract Labour Advisory Board, which was appointed for three years beginning 2005, had not met for the past two years, Mr Nair said the State Government is converting all employments into contract system. He estimated that around 2-3 lakh contract labourers are employed in the State.

The Karnataka unit of CITU will conduct a workshop for contract labourers and their leaders in Bangalore soon, he added.