Unorganised sector workers, who are the wealth creators in the country, should be paid minimum wages of ₹35,000, JV Satyanarayana Murthy, honorary president of Visakhapatnam Harbour and Port Workers Union, affiliated to the AITUC, has demanded.
Mr. Murthy, who is also State assistant secretary of CPI, inaugurated a maha dharna, organised by the AITUC district samithi, at the Gandhi statue, here, on Tuesday (March 11). He also sought strict implementation of labour laws by the Central and State governments, and payment of PF, ESI and gratuity to workers in the unorganised sector.
The minimum wage for unorganised sector workers should be fixed at ₹35,000 by the Central and State governments. He alleged that the Narendra Modi government was not implementing even a single social security measure for the unorganised sector workers. On the contrary, the Centre had withdrawn the 44 labour laws, which were being implemented in the country since long, and replaced them with four labour codes to benefit the employers.
A large number of workers, including contract labour, autorickshaw drivers, muta workers, medical employees, petty traders, construction workers, RTC porters, railway contract workers, and hamalies of the civil supplies department, were among those who participated in the protest. The labour codes were a threat to the right of workers to agitate for the settlement of their genuine grievances.
Demanding immediate withdrawal of the labour codes, Mr. Murthy sought that PF, ESI and gratuity should be implemented for unroganised sector workers at least now, failing which the union would launch agitation programmes for the settlement of their demands.
AITUC district general secretary GSJ Atchuta Rao, honorary president B. Ch. Masen, CPI district secretary M. Pydiraju, AITUC deputy general secretary B. Venkata Rao, vice presidents SK Rahaman, JD Naidu, J Ramakrishna and Kasireddy Satyanarayana were among those who participated in the maha dharna.
Published – March 11, 2025 04:36 pm IST