Seeking the fulfilment of their various demands, including consideration of scheme activists as workers, job security and the abolition of the anti-labour Labour Code, members of the Dharwad District Committee of All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC) staged a demonstration in Hubballi on Thursday.
The agitation was staged as part of the All India Protest Week in front of the statue of freedom fighter Sangolli Rayanna near Kittur Chennamma Circle in Hubballi.
District president of AIUTUC Gangadhar Badiger said that because of the pro corporate policies of the State and Union governments, the working class is losing all of its rights and jobs of permanent nature are being drastically cut.
“Public sector undertakings are being privatised neglecting the public good. Consequently, outsourcing, limited period work and gig works are becoming common. The wages of the working class when compared to the cost of living have gone down further and job security has vanished. Under pressure from the corporate sector, the government has increased the working period to 12. This apart, the labour code has been brought into force amending all the labour laws,” he said.
In protest against the anti-labour policies, the All India Committee of AIUTUC has given call for observing protest week from December 15 to 21 and it is the duty of every member of the working class to register protest, he said.
Mr. Badiger said that AIUTUC will urge the government to restart the old pension scheme and stop privatisation of public sector banks. The move to convert arms factories into corporations is aimed at privatising them and already, railway tracks, airports and ports are being privatised. What is even worse is that profit-making big companies of the nation are being pledged to private companies for meagre revenue, he said.
District vice-president Bhuvana Ballari said that Accredited Social Health Workers (ASHAs) and anganwadi workers are being neglected completely. At the same time, grants under various schemes are being reduced slowly, she said and demanded that scheme activists should be considered as workers, while facilities such as provident fund, ESI and pension and others be given to ASHAs, anganwadi and mid-day meal workers.
Members of various workers unions took part in the agitation. And, a memorandum addressed to the Prime Minister was submitted to the Hubballi Tahsildar.
