THE union ministry of labour and employment released draft rules for the Code on Social Security, 2020 on November 13 “for information of all persons likely to be affected thereby”, unscrupulously avoiding the route of tripartite consultation with the stakeholders, the trade unions in particular. The Modi government has been working overtime to roll out labour law codification at the earliest so as to show its hyper-loyalty to the corporates.

THE Electricity Employees Federation of India (EEFI), in a statement issued on October 7, has conveyed warm greetings to all the participants and constituent organisations of Vidyut Karmachari Sanjukta Sangharsha Samity (VKSSS), UP, for their heroic struggle to oppose the move of Uttar Pradesh government to privatise electricity distribution. Lauding the efforts of VKSSS, it said that the unity of the electricity employees made them victorious and that they have set an example before the working class of our country.

THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) congratulated the workers of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) for two days strike action on September 7-8, against the privatisation of BPCL and the BJP government and called it a pointer to growing resistance against the BJP government.Tapan Sen, general secretary of CITU noted that BPCL was formed by taking over a multinational company through an Act of Parliament in 1976.

Below we publish the statement issued by the Central Trade Unions – INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF and UTUC – on August 25AFTER the announcement on August 18, 2020, by the civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri that his ministry would place a proposal for further privatisation of airports before the union cabinet, the cabinet rubber stamped the proposal for leasing out three airports – Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram – through public private partnership (PPP), on August 19.

THE All India Co-ordination Committee of Road Transport Workers Organisations (AICCORTWO) has called for a protest day on August 5, in a move to draw attention to the severe crisis that is pushing the transport industry to collapse during the Covid-19 pandemic despite the workers being on duty braving dire conditions. K K Divakaran, convenor of AICCORTWO, has written to the union transport minister, Nitin Gadkari to bring to his notice the serious issues faced by transport workers in the country.