Intuc joining anti-govt agitations irks Cong

NEW DELHI: The Congress’ trade union wing, Intuc’s participation in anti-government protests alongwith unions of the Right and the Left is a cause of unease for the party.

The Congress leadership is understood to have conveyed its disapproval to the Intuc sharing platform with unions like the Left’s Citu and Aituc and RSS-affiliated BMS in anti-government programmes. However, the Intuc has conveyed to the party that its association with them was limited to trade union matters and did not extend to political issues.

The Intuc is planning to go ahead with the joint agitation as its staying away could undermine the interests of the organisation. Intuc president Sanjeeva Reddy, a special invitee to the CWC, is the convenor of the joint platform of trade unions, which came into being after a gap of nearly three decades.

The meeting on April 13 will be significant as the trade unions will be identifying issues to be taken up during their movement and charting out their strategy. According to Left trade union leaders, the meeting will decide on how to intensify the movement against government’s policies.

The unions have threatened a three-day strike in the coal industry from May 5 if the government did not revoke its disinvestment plans by mid-April. They have set an April 18 deadline for the Centre. The government, which at present holds 100 per cent stake in CIL, is planning to divest 10 per cent through an IPO of 63.1 crore shares.

All trade unions have launched a joint agitation in the Capital with a five point demand, which included halting disinvestment in profit-making PSUs. The other demands were steps to contain inflation, adequate social security cover for unorganised sector, abolishing contract labour system and halting privatisation of banks and insurance companies.

Central trade unions, including the Intuc, which met in Ranchi recently had threatened strikes in coal and telecom sectors against the government’s plans to divest shares in Coal India Ltd (CIL) and BSNL.