Labour Unions, Including RSS Affiliated BMS, To Hold Nationwide Protests Against Jaitley's 'Fixed-Term Employment' Plan

New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's budget proposal to introduce system of 'fixed-term employment' in all sectors of the industry has already got trade unions up in arms.

Several trade unions, including RSS affiliated Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), are planning mass demonstrations starting on Friday as they feel this is a policy to easily fire workers and is against laid out procedures and international labour norms.

"Government has introduced this policy without consulting workers' unions, without any talks or consultations at all. Such a policy can only be passed through a tri-partite agreement between factory owners, unions and government. So we have decided to go on mass, nationwide



protests from Friday," said BMS general secretary Virjesh Upadhyay.

He added that just by introducing this policy, the government has started a vicious cycle of workers being fired en-masse.

"Such a policy will ensure that there is no job security, no loyalty, it will ensure that there is uncertainty in the minds of workers, and all this will ultimately affect their work and lead them towards a layoff," he said. 

Vivek Monteiro, Secretary, Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), said that by having introduced such a policy, the government has played a gamble; that it should now “prepare for heavy resistance” which will pave way for “disruption of economy."