SURAT, Jan 20: Suresh Sonawane, General Secretary of Rashtriya Mazdoor Sena (RMS), claimed that trade unions and labour leaders were decreasing by the day in the country. He was speaking at a function, organised by the RMS at Vapi, which was attended by Lok Sabha members Ramdas Athwale and Jogendra Kalade of the Republican Party of India.Expressing dissapointment at the trend, Sonawane said that the labourers were responsible for it as they no longer had confidence in union leaders.
According to Sonawane, at times when labourers were being exploited by entrepreneurs, it was time for the trade union and labour movement to become stronger so that the interests of the labour class could be safeguarded. He urged the gathering to be united and launch a drive to ensure that they were provided with their basic rights and facilities.
Stating that it was the RMS's primary objective to create an atmosphere of confidence and unity among labourers so save then from exploitation, the leader urged the gathering to adhere to the RMS. Sonawane claimed that while industries located at Vapi, Sarigam, Pardi, Umargam, etc were getting crores of rupees by means of foreign funding and the government was earning huge amounts of money in the form of taxes, the labourers' condition had still not improved.
Sonawane also criticised the labour department, the labour commissioners, the factory inspectors, ESIC managers and provident fund officials for not ensuring that the labourers got their due benefits.
RMS vice-president and advocate Subhash Chaudhary told the gathering that although the entrepreneurs had not provided them the basic facilities on employment as well as facilities like education and health institutions for their children and other facilities, no major labour movement had been initiated at the industrial estates in South Gujarat.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.