8th Pay Commission Update: Trade Unions met with FM Sitharaman

Ten central trade unions (CTUs) from the Opposition and the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), an affiliate of the Sangh Parivar, have demanded the immediate constitution of the eighth Pay Commission. This demand was raised during a pre-Budget meeting with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday.

BMS Highlights Key Demands

The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh emphasized several demands, including raising the income tax exemption limit to ₹10 lakh while retaining existing exemptions. They also called for exempting pensioners from paying income tax on pensions and the immediate start of wage negotiations for public sector undertakings (PSUs).

Opposition Trade Unions Present Broader Demands

The platform of 10 central trade unions presented a wide range of demands, including:

• Addressing unemployment and filling vacant posts in PSUs and government departments.
• Removing the ban on new job creation and ending outsourcing and contractual employment.
• Increasing MGNREGA workdays from 100 to 200 and raising daily wages to ₹600.
• Introducing a new urban employment guarantee policy.
• Rolling back privatization, disinvestment, and the sale of public assets to private players.
• Extending Provident Fund and State Insurance coverage to include gig workers, app-based workers, and domestic workers.

Sector-Specific Demands

The BMS also presented additional demands for sector-specific reforms, such as:

• Restoring funding for social security boards like the Beedi Workers Welfare Board and Contract Labour Board.
• Providing special financial packages for labor-intensive industries, including plantations, agriculture, fisheries, and beedi production.
• Increasing the minimum pension for Provident Fund retirees from ₹1,000 to ₹5,000 as an initial step and linking it to 50% of minimum wages with variable dearness allowance.

Call for Worker-Centric Policies

The trade unions urged the government to prioritize employment generation, strengthen social security, and ensure fair treatment of workers in both organized and unorganized sectors. They also demanded the reconvening of the Indian Labour Conference to address employment-related issues comprehensively.

Their demands come ahead of the Union Budget and reflect growing concerns about privatization and economic challenges faced by workers. Whether these demands will be addressed in the Budget remains to be seen.