ON June 24, the new union labour minister, Narendra Singh Tomar, had had his first meeting with the central trade unions at Shram Shakti Bhawan in New Delhi. The minister of state for labour, Vishnudeo Sai, was also present in the meeting along with the labour secretary, chief labour commissioner (central), central provident fund commissioner, financial commissioner, and ESIC and other labour department officials.  RESENTMENT CONVEYED The leaders of all the central trade unions spoke in on voice, urging upon the labour minister for a directional change in approach and policy so that the legitimate interests of working people who produce wealth for the nation, resources for the exchequer and also profit for the employers are protected and taken care of, and also the interests of the national economy and the national assets and resources are harnessed for the benefit of a majority of the populace. The trade unions conveyed their strong opposition to the policy of opening up all sectors to 100 percent FDI, reckless deregulation of strategic sectors and natural resources of the economy including the financial sector, aggressive disinvestment of the public sector undertakings (PSUs) and privatisation of the crucial public utility services etc. Resentment was also conveyed on the steep hike in railway fares and freight charges through an executive order, which would further aggravate the already rising prices of essential commodities.  The central trade unions were represented by B N Rai and Sharma (BMS), G Sanjeeva Reddy and Ashok Singh (INTUC), Amarjeet Kaur and D L Sachdeva (AITUC), Harbhajan Singh Sidhu and B D Nagpal (HMS), Tapan Sen and A K Padmanabhan (CITU), Krishna Chakraborty and R K Sharma (AIUTUC), S P Tewari (TUCC), Rajib Dimri and Santosh Roy (AICCTU), Abani Roy (UTUC), Monali (SEWA), and S Sammughan (LPF) etc.   In his opening comment, labour secretary Smt Gauri Kumar stressed upon strengthening tripartism as the most crucial instrument for addressing the problems of labour as well as for maintaining industrial harmony and peace in order to facilitate productive growth of the economy on the path of employment generation. In response, the trade unions pointed out that for strengthening effective tripartism, the governments, both at the centre and in the states, must refrain from any kind of unilateralism and one-sided approach on matters involving and affecting the workers; also, employers must be made to implement all the labour laws in true spirit. The trade unions pointed to the recent unilateral move by the state government of Rajasthan to amend vital labour laws in favour of the employers, which was resolutely opposed by all the trade unions in the state. It was also pointed out that the central government too has been taking hurried steps to push through major amendments to a number of principal labour statutes viz, the Factories Act, Minimum Wages Act and Child Labour Act etc, affecting the workers. The central trade unions pointed out that if the spirit of tripartism is to be upheld and strengthened, then all the consensus recommendations of the highest tripartite forum in the country --- the Indian Labour Conference --- must be implemented in letter and spirit.  The successive sessions of the Indian Labour Conference, viz., the 42nd, 43rd, 44th and 45th sessions, have drawn conclusions through consensus in respect of major issues pertaining to workers, like upward revision of minimum wage, universal social security including pension, granting recognition as workers with attendant benefits of statutory wage and social security to the entire workforce in all central government schemes viz, Anganwadi, midday meal, ASHA, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan  etc, and same wage for same and similar work for contract  workers etc. But nothing has been done by the government in this regard. This government must implement those consensus recommendations. VOLATILE SITUATION IN WORKPLACES  The trade unions urged upon the minister to take serious note of the most volatile situation emerging at the workplaces throughout the country owing to mass scale violation of all basic labour laws and most ineffective, rather indulgent role of the enforcement machinery in favour of the law-violating employers’ class. In fact the law enforcement machinery of the labour department, both at the centre and in the states, are being deliberately and continuously weakened with huge vacancies of inspectors, other officials and even judges in labour courts piling up, to create ground for such non-enforcement --- all aimed to benefit the employers class. The Maruti-Suzuki incidence at Manesar in Haryana, virtual closure of Nokia plant at Tamilnadu, closure of the Hind Motors, Jessop and Duckback and shutdowns in a number of jute mills in West Bengal are the examples of such indulgence by administration to the violations of labour laws on the one hand and outcome of the faulty policies of the government on the other. It is the basic duty of any government in a civilised society to ensure the rule of law in workplaces instead of indulging in anarchy by the employers, the trade unions asserted.  The trade unions reiterated before the labour minister their ten point demands on which they have been agitating for the last five years in various ways including strikes. They urged upon the government to expeditiously act in sorting out those bottom-line demands, on many of which there had already been consensus in the tripartite ILC sessions. The trade unions also demanded immediate action on increasing the minimum pension to Rs 1,000 under the Employees’ Pension Scheme and raising the ceiling on the provident fund scheme to Rs 15,000 on which a decision had already been finalised by the previous government. While thanking the trade union representatives for the valuable inputs given by them on labour matters, the labour minister assured that the government would accord due consideration to the demands of the trade unions. He also conveyed that on the issue of increase in minimum pension and also on raising the ceiling on provident fund scheme to Rs 15,000, a decision will be taken by the government within two weeks time. The labour minister also stated that his ministry’s priority will be to protect the interests of workers, and he sought cooperation and help from all the central trade unions.    TRADE UNION MEMORANDUM  On the same day, the central trade unions sent a joint memorandum to the prime minister, Narendra Modi, through the union minister of labour and employment. The text of the memorandum follows. From the all-in-one-unity platform of all the central trade unions (CTUs) of the country we convey our greetings to the new prime minister of India. People of the country who have voted you to govern the country have great expectation from your government on the question of life and livelihood. We expect you to fulfil the aspiration of the mass of the people who produce wealth for the nation, resources for the exchequer, and also profit for the employers. The trade union movement reiterates that workers are committed for people oriented growth and advancement of the nation. The hard fact is that it is workers who are the living force behind keeping the national economy afloat. We seek to draw your kind attention to the ten point charter of demands which we have been pursuing through countrywide peaceful democratic mobilisation, agitation and repeated strike action in phases spreading over a period of the last over four years at all levels. These demands have been formulated jointly by all the central trade unions in the country along with almost all national federations of workers and employees in the major industries and service establishments in the country. These demands voice the most basic bottom line needs of the working people. These demands are: 1) Urgent measures for containing price rises through universalisation of public distribution system and banning the speculative trade in commodity market.  2) Containing unemployment through concrete measures for employment generation. 3) Strict enforcement of all basic labour laws without any exception or exemption and stringent punitive measures for violation of labour laws. 4) Universal social security cover for all workers. 5) Minimum wages of not less than Rs 15,000 per month with provisions of indexation. 6) Assured enhanced pension not less than Rs 3,000 p m for the entire working population. 7) Stoppage of disinvestment in the central or state PSUs. 8) Stoppage of contractisation in permanent perennial work and payment of same wage and benefits for contract workers as regular workers for same and similar work. 9) Removal of all ceilings on payment and eligibility of bonus, provident fund; increase the quantum of gratuity. 10) Compulsory registration of trade unions within a period of 45 days from the date of submitting application; and immediate ratification of ILO conventions 87 and 98. Besides the above, the notification for minimum pension of Rs 1,000 per month and raising the ceiling of coverage under EPF Act from Rs 6,500 to Rs 15,000 is overdue. The previous government had cleared these two measures. WORKERS FEELING HIGHLY AGITATED The validity and justness of the issues of our charter of demands has found expression in the speech of the then prime minister while addressing the 45th session of the Indian Labour Conference (ILC) held on May 11, 2013 that "the demands of recent two days strike by the workers are also the demands of the people at large and most of them are undisputable and unexceptionable and also are in the advanced stage of consideration by the government." The ILC development was followed up with constitution of a group of senior ministers with mandate to meet the central trade unions to settle the issues. Bilateral exercise did take off but remained inconclusive, and the issues still stand unresolved. All the central trade unions of the country feel very much agitated at the wavering attitude of the previous government on the issues raised above, which ignored the conclusion of the ILCs. In the meantime the situation has got aggravated. The price rise of essential commodities is making the life of common people miserable. The recent increase in passenger and freight charges by the railways will have a cascading effect on the price front. Mass scale and widespread contractisation of regular jobs has been continuing in the government, in public and private sectors, trampling the concerned laws underfoot. Opening up almost all sectors to FDI and reckless deregulation of the strategic sectors of the economy including the financial sector and aggressive disinvestment of the PSUs and privatisation of crucial public utility services appears to be pursued by the new government. At this point we urge upon your government to kindly refrain from any kind of unilateralism and one-sided approach either by the central government or any state government on the matters.