TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Over a thousand members of All India Trade Union Congress, representing workers from various industrial estates and government departments, took to the streets on Monday to protest against the anti-working class policies of both, the Centre and State government.
The demonstrators, who protested outside the Labour Commissioner’s Office at Shramashakti Bhavan at Patto, alleged that the policies of BJP government in Goa and at the Centre are against their interest and demanded immediate revision of statutory minimum wages.
They asked the government to hike the minimum wages to Rs 600 per day for unskilled workers, Rs 650 for semi skilled workers, Rs 700 for skilled category and Rs 750 per day for highly skilled workers.
“Since the last four years, the minimum wages applicable to the workers in government, semi government departments and government instrumentalities have not been revised due to red-tape and sabotage by the bureaucracy,” AITUC general secretary Christopher Fonseca alleged. He also demanded immediate resumption of mining operations in Goa, reinstatement of 17 lifeguards and regularization of the services of other Drishti lifeguards, resolving KTCL employees problem of late monthly salary, and the problems of River Navigation employees, particularly payment of overtime dues, pending since January 2006 as per Sixth Pay Commission norms.
