Trade and farmers' unions in Dakshina Kannada to join the nationwide general strike on July 9
A procession will be taken out from Dr. B R Ambedkar (Jyothi) Circle to Clock Tower, where a protest meeting will be held, said office bearers of the trade unions.
The office-bearers told reporters here on Thursday that the Central Government has codified 29 labour legislations into four Codes, thereby denying workers their right to protest or hold strikes. Labour legislation would not be applicable to over 70% of the workforce in the country with this codification that also denies the right to form associations and hold protests. The Codes also permit enhancing the work hours from 8 to 12 per day and overtime from 50 hours to 125 hours per month. Instead of paying a ₹9,000 pension to workers, the Code left the ESI and Provident Fund payment choice to the employers.
Various trade Unions, including INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, AICCTU, SEWA, LPF, and others, have called for a general strike. Their key demands include the abrogation of the four labour codes, retaining work timings of eight hours per day, job regularisation to ensure job security, and the right to form associations, all of which were under threat following the labour laws that favour corporate bodies, they said.
The unions have also demanded a minimum wage of ₹26,000 across the country and ₹36,000 in Karnataka in the unorganised sector, along with the abrogation of hired or contract labour. Expressing their solidarity with the farmers who have sought pension for senior citizens among them, the trade Unions demanded that agricultural workers be paid a ₹9,000 pension a month.
The nationwide strike was also an effort to get the New Pension Scheme annulled and urge the government to revert to the Old Pension Scheme. They have urged the State government to withdraw the proposed amendment to the Factories Act that increases the daily working hours to 12. The office bearers also urged the government to withdraw amendments to various agriculture-related laws, including the APMC Act.
Leaders Sunil Kumar Bajal (CITU), K Seetharama Berinja (AITUC), K. Phanindra (Bank Employees Union), Yadav Shetty (AIKS) and Oswald Prakash Fernandes (Raita Sangha) spoke
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