CITU protests in Guwahati for Rs 800 daily minimum wage

The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) staged a sit-in outside Shram Bhawan at Ulubari in Guwahati on Monday, demanding that the Assam government fix a minimum daily wage of Rs 800 and stop implementing the new Labour Codes in the state, The Assam Tribune reported.

The protest, organised by the CITU's Kamrup Metropolitan district committee, began at 9 am. Workers' organisations representing employees across the state's 98 scheduled employments joined in.

Scheme workers want wages, not honorariums

Anganwadi workers and helpers, ASHA workers and mid-day meal cooks were among the protesters. They demanded to be recognised as workers entitled to wages, instead of being paid honorariums, along with social security and regularisation of their jobs.

According to the union, about 2.71 lakh people engaged in government services such as Anganwadi, ASHA and mid-day meal work remain without proper wages.

Six demands

The CITU has placed six demands before the state government. They include:

• an official notification fixing the minimum daily wage at Rs 800;
• fixing wages for contract workers;
• extending social security to all unorganised-sector workers, including those in motor transport;
• removing the difficulties registered construction workers face in getting welfare benefits.

The union also raised the growing use of contract labour in both the public and private sectors, and pointed to the Rs 280 daily wage paid to tea garden workers in Assam.

"No notification since 2015"

A protester alleged that the state has not issued an official notification on minimum wages for the 98 scheduled employments since 2015, and accused the Labour Department of failing to protect workers' interests.

A CITU general secretary said the government had prioritised the interests of the wealthy while workers struggled for their entitlements. The union said the agitation would go on until the government gives written assurances on its demands.

There was no immediate response from the state Labour Department to the allegations.

The Labour Codes question

The four Labour Codes, on wages, industrial relations, social security and occupational safety, replace 29 older central labour laws and are now in force. States frame their own rules under them. Trade unions such as the CITU argue that the codes weaken job security and the right to strike, while the government says they simplify compliance and expand social security coverage.

For Assam, the minimum wage dispute is especially sensitive because of the large number of tea garden workers, scheme workers and contract labourers whose pay is set by government notifications or schemes.