Chennai, Oct 27 (IANS) Trade unions cutting across political lines will hold country-wide meets Wednesday to protest rise in prices of essential commodities, job losses, and divestment in central public sector units (PSU), and to demand implementation of labour laws.
“It is a national level protest with workers affiliated to various unions joining together to raise important issues like price rise, job losses, implementation of labour laws, stressing the right to form trade union and opposing disinvestment,” said A.K. Padmanabhan, national secretary of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU).

Workers belonging to central trade unions like CITU, Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) and Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) will hold protest meetings across the country.

While unions in the banking sector will also participate in the protest, normal activity will not be affected, officials said.

According to Padmanabhan, workers are at the receiving end since 1990 with the governments turning a blind eye to issues of minimum wages, right of workers to form unions and working conditions.

Referring to Rico Auto in Gurgaon, where about 100,000 workers belonging to various unions struck work for a day this month after a colleague was killed in a clash between two groups of employees, he said: “Workers are now realising the importance of their right to form unions and address issues that affect them.”