STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS) has extended full support to the nationwide general strike scheduled for February 12, demanding the repeal of the Labour Codes and the protection of workers’ constitutional rights.
In a statement, Raju Sahu, secretary of the Panitola branch of ACMS and a former MLA, alleged that the BJP-led Central government has adopted “anti-worker, anti-farmer and anti-national” policies. He said central trade unions and employees’ federations have jointly called the nationwide strike on February 12 to press for the withdrawal of the four Labour Codes enacted in 2019 and 2020.
The four Labour Codes include the Code on Wages, the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, the Code on Social Security, and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code. Sahu said these Codes replaced 29 existing central labour laws that workers had secured through decades of struggle since Independence. These earlier laws included the Trade Unions Act, Industrial Disputes Act, Factories Act, Minimum Wages Act, Payment of Wages Act, Employees’ Provident Fund Act and the Bonus Act, among others, which guaranteed rights related to wages, dispute resolution, unionization, strike action, social security, workplace safety and maternity benefits.
He alleged that the new Labour Codes were enacted without adequate consultation with workers’ organizations and have curtailed several labour protections. Highlighting specific changes, Sahu pointed out that the mandatory notice period for strikes has been extended from 14 days to 60 days, and the threshold for prior government approval for layoffs, retrenchment and closure of industrial establishments has been raised from 100 to 300 workers.
Sahu further claimed that the Codes may facilitate longer working hours and weaken safeguards related to health and safety. He also criticized the Centre for failing to control rising prices of essential commodities and for not taking steps to increase minimum wages.
Raising state-specific concerns, he said Assam has not issued a revised notification on minimum wages for the past ten years. He alleged that tea garden land is being acquired and handed over to corporate entities, affecting employment opportunities and threatening the future of Assam’s globally renowned tea industry.
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