The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh will meet on November 27-28 to discuss pending employees, and gig workers’ demands, including higher provident fund and insurance benefit ceilings, improved wages and other allowances.
The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh’s (BMS) national office-bearers plan to meet in Vadodara on 27 and 28 November to discuss pending workers’ demands, including issues related to gig workers, PTI reported. They will also decide on future course of action, it added.
An affiliate of the RSS, the trade union’s demands include increasing the minimum pension to ₹7,500, raising the Employees’ State Insurance ceiling from ₹21,000 to ₹42,000 and the Employee Provident Fund ceiling from ₹15,000 to Mandaviya said that with the revised ceiling, more employees will become eligible for mandatory coverage, expanding the reach of formal social security.
Notably, the wage ceiling had remained unchanged since September 2014 despite considerable increases in wages, minimum wages and living costs.
BMS key demands, explained
- Minimum pension to ₹7,500 under EPS-95, and linking it with Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA) and Ayushman Bharat Yojana.
- Raise Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) ceiling from ₹21,000 to ₹42,000.
- Raise Employee Provident Fund (EPF) ceiling from ₹15,000 to ₹30,000.
- Declare bonus on full wages or salaries as notified by the new labour codes.
- Make an increase in the bonus calculation limit from ₹7,000.
- Raise the gratuity calculation from 15 days’ wages to 30 days’ wages, without a ceiling.
- Have formula-based minimum wages linked to the increasing cost of living and a higher monthly honorarium for scheme workers.
- Equal pay for equal work for all types of contract workers.
- Action against contractors and manpower supply agencies for wage theft.
- A five-day banking system.
- Filling vacant posts in government services.
- An Indian Labour Conference at the earliest.
- Restoration of the old pension scheme (OPS).
- The trade union also said it “strongly opposes” the Industrial Relations Code and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, alleging that they contain “many anti-worker provisions”.
‘Expect government to fulfil pending demands at the earliest’
Speaking to PTI, BMS national vice president Pawan Kumar said the union was expecting the government to fulfil its pending demands at the earliest and thanked it for raising the wage ceiling for mandatory EPFO coverage. “We have thanked the government over the EPF issue. We are expecting the government to fulfil our other demands at the earliest,” Kumar said.
He added that issues related to gig workers, including the provision of shelters and insurance, would also be discussed at the upcoming meeting. “At the November 27-28 meeting in Vadodara, we will decide our future course of action. Issues related to gig workers, including shelters and insurance, will also be discussed,” he said.
The BMS had held nationwide protests on August 17 to press the Centre to resolve long-pending problems of labourers, including demands for higher pension, increased wage ceilings and benefits for scheme-based workers.
(With inputs from PTI)
About the Author
Jocelyn Fernandes
Jocelyn Fernandes is a journalist and editor with nearly 13 years of experience covering the business, corporate, economy and markets beats in news.
As chief content producer for around three years at Livemint (Hindustan Times), Jocelyn publishes breaking stories, explainers, features and live blogs on a range of business and economy topics, including the Budget, corporate developments, stock markets, income tax, money and personal finance, cryptocurrency, government policy, impact of US tariffs, international developments and more.
Jocelyn’s writing philosophy is focused on delivering news in an accurate and accessible format for readers. She thus focuses her news coverage on explainers and FAQs in order to breakdown business, corporate, economic, and policy topics that are of importance to everyday readers.
She holds a Bachelors in Mass Media (BMM) and Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) in Journalism and Communication and has previously written for online business and markets news site Moneycontrol (Network18), Business-to-business (B2B) trade publications — the industry magazines Power Today and Solar Today (ASAPP Media), and the national news agency United News of India (UNI).
Outside of work, Jocelyn keeps up-to-date with local and international news, enjoys reading fiction books, novels and short stories, and enjoys movies, travelling and art.
She can be found on X and LinkedIn, and reached by email: jocelyn.fernandes@htdigital.in
X/ Twitter handle: @scribeJocelyn
LinkedIn: LinkedIn
