Kochi: The Kerala unit of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) is set to launch a series of protests against what it termed as the anti-worker policies of the BJP-led Centre and the CPM-led state government.
The trade union backing the opposition Congress will start its series of agitations on August 5 with a sit-in in front of all the 14 district collectorates in the state. On August 21, the INTUC will take out a march to the state secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram. On August 27, workers of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and the Ayyankali Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme will stage a protest in front of the local self-government institutions across the state, INTUC state president R Chandrasekharan said at a press conference in Kochi on Tuesday.
The INTUC will also launch an indefinite strike at Milma's southern zone against the management's failure to implement the pay revision which has been pending for the past 13 months. Chandrasekharan said the central government has brought in anti-worker reforms in the employment guarantee scheme and the Left government in the state has failed to challenge them.
He said though the trade unions has demanded the Centre to fix national minimum wage at Rs 700, the Narendra Modi-led government has fixed a meagre Rs 178 as the floor price.
He said utter financial mismanagement has led to a total collapse across sectors in Kerala. INTUC district president K K Ibrahimkutty also attended the press meet.