The second meeting of the tripartite Minimum Wage Advisory Board, comprising government departments, scheduled employments and trade unions will be held on Friday at the Secretariat. Deliberations which began on November 4 are expected to continue between the stakeholders with the aim of arriving at a unanimous decision.
The previous meeting had ended in a stalemate with the employees’ representatives refusing to settle on the gazzetted draft minimum wages ranging between Rs 284 to Rs 322 for unskilled and highly skilled workers.
Speaking to The Goan after the meeting, president of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) Prasanna Utagi stated, “We are firm on our demand for Rs 600 onwards and we want the wages to be linked with the cost of living index.”
AITUC has been at the forefront of the workers’ protests demanding a hike of 179 per cent in the minimum wages taking the figure from Rs 215 to Rs 600 a day for unskilled workers and an additional Rs 50 for each of category including semi-skilled, skilled and highly skilled.
“While the money wage has been increased in the draft, there is not increase in the real wages due to the rate of inflation. Instead of offering a need-based minimum wage, the government has based it on poverty line whereby the workers’ basic needs will remain unfulfilled. The only solution for them then would be to work more,” Utagi stated adding that the minimum wages should be linked with the cost of living index.
AITUC leader Suhas Naik said that the employees’ representatives will press for the consideration of net minimum food requirements of 2700 calories for three persons. “Minimum wages of every worker need to be linked with food requirement of a family of three and with dearness allowance,” he stated.
The meeting will also witness AITUC pressing for the consideration of the minimum wages set in other states of India such as Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and even Telangana.
