Central trade unions barring BMS decided to go ahead with their proposed nationwide strike on 02.09.2015

All central trade unions barring the  Bhartiya Mazdoor  Sangh on Friday decided to go ahead with their proposed nationwide strike on  02.09.2015, saying the government failed to give a concrete proposal on their  12-point charter of demands.

 "There is no reason for us to defer the  planned strike and all 11 central unions will be on a one day nationwide strike  to convey the discontent amongst workers," G Sanjeevareddy, chairman of the  central trade unions coordination committee said after a three-hour meeting where the government  offered some sops. However, BMS, which claims to be the second largest trade  union in the country, feels that following the government's proposal, unions  should give it time to deliver. "We have requested all central trade unions not  to go on strike just for political reasons," Vrijesh Upadhyay, general secretary of BMS, said after the meeting. BMS feels  that unions should give government six months to deliver on the proposals. "For the first time, the government has made a positive move  on some of the issues. Let us give them some time to deliver," Upadhyay said.  

An inter-ministerial committee led by finance minister Arun  Jaitley had on Thursday proposed to significantly increase minimum wages and  make them mandatory across the country. It also suggested an increase in the  bonus ceiling as well as widening the coverage of provident fund and health  insurance to include  construction workers and those in schemes such as aanganwadis.

The  unions' decision to go ahead with the strike is a blow for the government that  met trade union representatives thrice in July and twice in August to discuss their 12-point  charter of demands. The government had assured them action on at least four of  their key demands on Thursday while urging unions to reconsider their decision  to go on strike. However, unions felt that whatever assurance has come is not  meeting their demand and hence 10 of the 11 central trade unions will stage a  one-day general strike next week.