10 trade unions boycott G-20 labour meet, in protest against BMS being appointed as chair
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New Delhi: Around 10 central trade unions have kept away from the meeting of trade unions of the G20 countries - labelled L20 - being held in Bihar's capital Patna, in protest against the RSS-backed Bharat Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) as the chair of the meeting being held from Thursday. .
A report in the Hindu said that the protesting unions are unhappy with the government's decision to appoint BMS as chair. According to the protesting unions, the International Trade Unions Confederation (ITUC) used to chair the L20 meetings – of which the BMS is not a member.
However, the suggestion of the ITUC to make the Congress backed trade union, Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) also the chair, was reportedly rejected by Union government.
The ITUC had last month issued a statement criticising the Narendra Modi government for insisting that the BMS will chair the L20 meeting. “This year, despite months of negotiations and offers to compromise on certain issues by the ITUC and independent Indian unions, the government of India has insisted that the L20 will be chaired by the Indian Workers’ Union, known as the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS). This Hindu nationalist trade union confederation is close to Prime Minister Modi’s ruling party, which will be contesting elections next year,” the statement said.
“For years, governments hosting the G20 have accepted the role of the world’s leading independent trade union confederation in representing working people to the G20. This was respected by China and Saudi Arabia, countries without independent unions. Yet the government of India, the world’s largest democracy, and one with a vibrant independent trade union movement, will host the worst G20 we have ever seen in terms of its representation of working people,” ITUC acting general secretary Luc Triangle had said.
“While the government backed BMS will hold sham L20 events in India, the ITUC and TUAC [Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD] will convene virtual L20 events involving the independent trade unions representing the majority of trade union members in India, as well as unions from the rest of the G20 countries,” the ITUC statement said.
The key themes of the meeting are “Social Security & International Portability of Social Security Fund and Women and Future of Work”. Mr. Pandya said the trade unions themselves discussed these issues. “Extensive discussions were also held with the representatives of Business-20, Civil-20, Youth-20, Women-20 etc,” he said.
Bihar Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar inaugurated the L20 meeting on Thursday, also as reported by the Hindu.
BMS president Hiranmaye Pandya is chairing the meet. When asked about the unions boycotting the event and their reasons, Union labour minister Bhupendra Yadav said his ministry had always been encouraging tripartite consultations and several trade unions from India were attending the conference.
